A Time to Live
by witchkiller9999
Summary: AU. Time travel. No zombies beyond Chapter 1. As Komuro Takashi was moping on a certain staircase to hone his skill in the art of being a delinquent angsty teenager, he was suddenly assaulted with visions of the future. It was a living nightmare of death and destruction. Armed with this knowledge he will do... nothing. Zombies don't exist. Then what will he do? Live of course!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter publish date: 2/26/2017

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Author's Notes: Hello! Welcome to my first published fic!

Pairing: Takashi/Saeko. No harem here folks. That will never change.

Please consider giving this story a fav and a follow if you like it. That would really make me happy.

I Hope you have fun reading! :D

 _D_ _isclaimer:_ _Highschool of the Dead does not belong to me,_ _nor_ _does_ _anything_ _else you may recognize from other_ _licensed works_ _._ _I only own my ideas._ _I gain nothing from writing this._

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 **Prologue**

"You brain-dead wrinkled fuckfaces just can't give me a break, can you?"

Slash!

Two of _them_ dropped to their knees before falling backwards, their heads rolling away from their bodies. But with their brain still intact, _they_ were far from 'dead'. _They_ groaned and bit at air.

Takashi flicked his katana sideways and splattered a bit of blood on the ground then sheathed the blade. Now normally, Takashi would stomp on the heads to kill them. However, today he was irritated. Today, he was feeling vindictive. Today, he would leave these two heads uncrushed on the ground to rot for eternity— or at least until someone puts them out of their misery. At least they weren't alone. They could bond— if groaning and biting at dirt could be considered bonding.

It was unreasonable of course. He knew he was being childish. _They_ were mindless reanimated corpses. Of course it wasn't their fault that the mall was completely silent and empty an hour ago.

His eye twitched.

Of course it also wasn't their fault that an honest-to-goodness meteor crashed right outside the mall sometime after he opened his big fat mouth and said, "No sign of anyone, or _them_. Sweet! I'll just go in, get Saeko a present, and get out. Easy peazy. What could possibly go wrong?"

The veins in his forehead throbbed.

And of course it wasn't their fault that the main entrance and the path leading to his bike were now suddenly filled with hundreds of _them._

The distinct sound of glass cracking was heard in the background.

Takashi gripped the railing at the edge of the roof, leaned forward, looked up to the clear blue sky, took in a deep relaxing breath and then calmly said, "WHAT?! THE?! FUCK?!"

 **. . .**

His loud scream got the attention of the undead below. _They_ looked up at the human high above them and gave a confused groan. What was he so upset about? It's not like he hasn't been able to brush his teeth, nor take a bath since forever like them. He had no right to scream at the sky about the unfairness of the world.

 _They_ reasoned that since he wasn't wearing a hospital gown, then that means: he hadn't just woken up from a coma; hadn't just found out that he woke up to a zombie apocalypse; hadn't just figured out that he has no idea if his wife and son are even still alive; hadn't been clueless to the fact that his best friend has been creepily stalking his wife in the forest every time she goes under the pretense of foraging, then fucking her silly, and then spraying his thick semen all over her naked body!

 _They_ concluded that, yes, clearly the human was being a drama queen.

 **. . .**

Up on the roof, Takashi's grip on the railing slackened, his irritation spent.

And then he sneezed. He suddenly had this feeling that someone was talking about him, and that it was somehow loosely related to Rei and Hisashi ( _R.I.P._ ) when they were in highschool. He shrugged. It was 10 years ago. He had moved on in less than two months after she broke up with him. Having the thought randomly pop up out of nowhere was beyond weird indeed.

And besides, he was way happier now with Saeko anyway. Saying he was 'happier' though, was a huge understatement. It was like comparing a banshee to an angel— _an angel of death,_ Takashi amended. _My angel of death,_ a soft smile on his lips.

Feeling strangely relieved at the fact that his dreams in these 10 years were constantly occupied by a certain purple-haired angel of death instead of an incessant drunk banshee screaming "TAH-KAH-SHII!", he turned around and whistled at the faint trail in the sky left by the meteor. It certainly crashed somewhere behind the mall.

 _Wait a sec... So if it crashed 'behind' the mall, why did_ they _gather in 'front' of the mall?_

A tick mark threatened to form above his eyebrow. It didn't make any sense! And it probably wasn't going to anytime soon, so he just gave up trying altogether.

Takashi slipped on his backpack. He already got Saeko an anniversary present and he was done confirming that, yes, a meteor really did fall out of the sky. So now, it was time to leave. He walked towards the metal door— and abruptly stopped. Right, there were hundreds of _them_ still in the way.

 _All because of that stupid meteor!_ _Fucking Murphy's law._

He gave a tired sigh. If only _they_ didn't suddenly pop up here, or if _they_ didn't exist period, then doing something so simple like getting a present would be so much easier. Takashi felt a little like an old geezer, sighing and yelling at every little thing.

He shook his head. Enough fooling around. He'll have to do something about _them_ first if he wants to get to his bike without having to fight hundreds of _them_ by himself.

It was time for a small detour. Maybe he could find something that could make enough noise to divert _them_ away from his bike. Idly, he also thought to investigate the meteor. He might as well take a look at the chunk of rock responsible for his current situation. And maybe, he could give it a kick or two while talking trash to it. That will definitely teach it a lesson not to crash anywhere near him and spawn hundreds of _them_ out of thin air!

As Takashi walked away, the two heads of _them_ on the ground were also cursing at their fate, but in the form of groans and biting noises. Why the did they appear on the roof and not with the rest of _them_ down below? This is, sadly, a mystery that will never be solved.

 **.  
** **. .**

Unfortunately for one Komuro Takashi, the universe still wasn't done playing with his sanity.

 _Impossible..._

A wide-eyed Takashi watched on in his binoculars.

There was no possible way that a man wearing a white lab coat could be here. He looked too clean, too well-groomed. If not for that white lab coat, the man could be easily mistaken for someone who was about to attend a high-class party. There was also no possible way that he was carrying the meteorite out of its crater, it was five times his size!

 _There's just no way—_

The stranger set the large chunk of rock on the ground with a loud thud that Takashi could hear even in his hiding spot 50 meters away.

His eyes comically bulged out of his binocular's lenses.

"N-No way... this is... really happening," he whispered.

The man quickly spun around, looking straight at him like a deer at night caught in headlights.

Takashi was in a similar state of panic. He instantly dropped down so that the bushes could conceal him better.

 _What the fuck was that?_

That guy looked him in the eyes! He was quite sure he was hidden! Maybe the stranger heard him even from far away? But that was just—

He gripped the handle of his sword, his knuckles turning white. Ten years into the apocalypse has given Takashi very good instincts. He learned how to quickly identify dangerous situations and deal with them resourcefully, it's what kept them all alive for a decade. And right now those instincts were on overdrive.

 _Shit! This isn't good._

He's been detected, it didn't look like he was going to be able to sneak away. If the stranger was hostile, he'd lose in melee combat even if he had a sword. He had a feeling that his skill couldn't match the strength and whatever else the stranger was capable of. He had to run for it— and shoot, if he had to. He forcefully calmed himself down. He knows from experience that panicking now wouldn't do him any good. He stored the binoculars and reached for his shotgun.

 **.  
** **. .**

Unknown to Takashi, the man in the white lab coat did hear his whisper because of his enhanced senses. He should've heard Takashi's initial approach, but he was too distracted grumbling about how bad his day had been.

And now he was panicking. He shouldn't have been seen in this universe. Traveller's were not allowed to be seen by those who don't already know about them.

 _In the first place, how could my standard issue Don'tGoAnywhereNearThisInvisibleDome raygun not work on this terran?_

He fumbled around his dimensional pocket and took the thing out. It looked to be in perfect condition. So why didn't it work? It was a mystery.

He irritably shoved the stupid thing back inside, not caring whether it gets damaged this time. He didn't know it yet, but he was going to regret this later.

 _Of course everything was going wrong today._

The now identified unnamed traveller rubbed his forehead in frustration. It was supposed to be a simple mission: go after the meteoroid that passed through a wormhole into another universe, and recover it before it crashes on a planet.

Unfortunately for him, when Takashi opened his big fat mouth, he had done so at the exact same time, saying words with the exact same amount of syllables, and finishing the last sentence in perfect unison; unwittingly cursing himself with the rare Murphy's law raised to the power of two, and making the situation much worse for himself who's just an unnamed, no plot armor, supporting character.

"A simple retrieval mission. Sweet! I'll just go in, grab this thing for easy cash, and get out. Easy as pie. What could possibly go wrong?"

A lot of things apparently. In space, the meteoroid continuously slipped from his fingers no matter what he tried. And when he made for a desperate grab, he overextended his reach and sent himself careening into a nearby sun that roasted his hair and eyebrows. Good thing he had instant regeneration. At one point, he tripped on the emptiness of space— the traveller winced because, yes, as impossible as it sounds, that really happened— and almost stumbled into a nearby black hole, his entire life flashed before his eyes. Then, just when he thought that he finally had the accursed thing in his grasp, a 20-kilo ferrous slug came out of nowhere and hit him right in the face! Good thing he could regenerate from being atomized.

This was all ridiculous! And to further tortu— emphasize this point, he asked himself,

 _W_ _hat was more likely to happen:_ _g_ _et hit in the face by a stray space missile_ _of mass destruction_ _, or get your first kiss?_

Dark clouds formed above his head. Apparently for the traveller, it was the former. When he realized this, he cried many anime tears.

 _Stupid eyeballing wannabe_ _space_ _cowboy recruits that don't know how to wait for a_ _damn_ _computer to give them a firing solution!_

After a lot more seemingly random unfortunate events and even more grumbling, he now has to face this current dilemma: the meteor crashed, he was not getting paid; an inhabitant of the planet was now staring at him with bulging eyes, he was going to be severely punished for gross incompetence.

 _Aaand he's going for a gun._

He needed to diffuse the situation quickly. Sure, he was mostly invulnerable thanks to his godly regeneration, but he was tired and grumpy. And if he snapped and accidentally killed anyone in this universe, severe punishments would be the least of his worries.

Crappy day aside, he still had to solve this new problem, which in this case, means erasing Takashi's memories.

 **.  
** **. .**

Takashi took out his shotgun and turned to make a break for it.

The traveller saw this and cast a translation spell on himself, then teleported in front of Takashi to introduce himself. It was a big mistake, as Murphy's law raised to the power of two made itself known once again.

"Hemphh mmphh nyphh—" he tried to get out. _Wait, that's not right._

He then realized his predicament. First, he was upside down. Second, his head was buried underground while the rest of his body was upright. Third, with his x-ray vision, his eyes saw Takashi's shotgun conveniently pointed at his family jewels. Fourth, in slow motion, he saw Takashi's startled look, his fingers were on the trigger, squeezing on reflex...

 _Oh no. Nonononon—_

Bang!

"AAAGHMMMMMMMMMPH!"

 **. . .**

His muffled scream caused a of couple birds nearby to fly away in fear. Although, one in particular stayed to sway its head from side to side and made 'tisking' noises.

The bird then asked,

 _What was more likely to happen: get shot in the dick by a shotgun, or lose your virginity?_

The bird winced in pity. Somehow, it knew that the poor soul down below belonged to the former category.

 **. . .**

Takashi jumped back from the traveller who was currently doing an impression of a screaming upside down headless chicken that just got a hole blown through its balls.

He winced. He didn't mean to do that.

However, before he could process what he had just seen, another amazing thing happened: the blood that splattered from the traveller's manhood crawled back from whence it came!

His shotgun lowered, his jaw slackened, and his eyes widened as he watched the traveller's balls magically repair itself. It was amazing. It was inappropriate. It was disgusting. It was probably going to scar him for life. And Takashi couldn't look away no matter how hard he tried.

The traveller, having finished his intricate dance, sneezed with such force that it pushed his head out of the ground. He plopped back down and rolled around while pitifully groaning and using his two hands to vainly shield his genitals from the phantom pain.

Takashi would've winced again, but his survival instincts kicked in and he became wary once again.

"WAIT!" the traveller shouted, frantically flapping his arms, "For the love of god, don't shoot!"

Takashi kept his shotgun pointed at the man, but removed his finger from the trigger.

The traveller sighed in relief, brushing dirt from himself as he stood up. _Good. My translation spell is working at least._

Takashi internally rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, but you just suddenly popped up in front of me... and... a-and what the hell are you? How are you doing these... these—"

"I'm a traveller," he cut in, "a multiverse enforcer. The name's..."

Takashi blinked. _Traveller?... Multiverse?... Multiverse enforcer?... Is this guy for real?..._

"... and that's why it's always been my dream to become Hokage!" the traveller finished grandly.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Back up for a sec, Traveller-san. How do I know that you are what you say you are, and not some crazy nut that evolved from _them—_ or whatever explains how you do all these weird shit."

The newly named Traveller-san pinched the bridge of his nose. _Seriously? He didn't even hear my name? All that time spent detailing my life story for nothing. And what does he mean by_ 'them' _?_

In response, he sighed and lazily opened his palm facing up, then produced a holographic image of his badge.

Traveller-san watched in smug satisfaction as Takashi's mouth opened and closed with no words coming out. With his confidence restored and falsely thinking that he now had a fan, he decided to introduce himself once more and explain the duties of a traveller.

Takashi, however, was too busy staring at the floating hologram in disbelief. _Multiverse... t-there's a whole world out there?... Ugh... my head... I wish Saya was here to make sense of all this crap... wait... maybe I'm dreaming all this._ He then gave himself a hard slap on the face.

"Ow!" he rubbed his face, "So that's what it feels like."

Traveller-san gave Takashi a weird look. "Sooo anyway, now that we've settled that, I need to erase your memories. Standard procedure." _Believe my lie simpleton!_

"What?!" Takashi exclaimed, his eyes narrowed, "You're serious... How much of my memories? And why?" He knew he had a bad feeling about the guy, but he never expected something like that. All things considered, Takashi was taking things fairly well.

"All of it, unfortunately. We can't afford to take risks. Knowledge of our existence must remain secret." His hands started to glow white. "Now if you would stand still and—"

Takashi pumped his shotgun, ejecting a shell casing. "Sorry, Traveller-san," he said in a tone that didn't sound sorry at all, "but multiverse enforcer or no, it's not gonna happen," he scoffed. _Does this doofus really expect me to just let my memories be erased just like that?_

The enforcer sighed. _And he still didn't hear my name. Was he even listening to my boring exposition dump?_ Then his expression turned grim. "Well, I'm sorry to say that you have no choice on the matter."

Traveller-san normally wouldn't resort to what he was about to do next— and it wasn't going to be diplomatic or pleasant— but it was the quickest way to end his current problem. It would also probably cause Takashi some brain damage, but in light of what he's had to endure so far, he's running empty on patience. Thus, he reasoned that since his penis didn't get any diplomacy, his next course of action was justified. After all, as long as he didn't kill anyone in this universe, then there was no problem at all.

Takashi knew he had no chance, but he wasn't going to just lay down and give in without a fight. He steeled his resolve and aimed for the place he knew was the most effective against this lame excuse of an enforcer. In this messed up world, he has learned to fight dirty in every fight.

Traveller-san's hands blazed white.

Takashi aimed his shotgun lower.

 **. . .**

Inside Traveller-san's pocket dimension, Murphy's law raised to the power of two was wreaking havoc.

After a certain standard issue Don'tGoAnywhereNearThisInvisibleDome raygun was carelessly shoved in, it conveniently landed on a spring-loaded rod which was somehow set to propel anything on it at full force. The raygun launched and pinballed around every object inside the dimension.

Miraculously, only three objects broke: the raygun— which disintegrated when it broke an overloaded power core after its 'power up x2' button was hit over and over again— and a microwave phone capable of sending messages to the past; this was sitting next to the power core when it exploded.

As this was happening, outside the pocket dimension, Takashi's plot armor activated, and repurposed the explosion.

 **. . .**

Traveller-san's breathing was ragged. He was in pain. Huge amounts of pain. Once again, his family jewels suffered from getting a hole blown right through it. Takashi had somehow tricked him into revealing that he's not allowed to kill anyone in this universe, and used this knowledge to his advantage. Looking back on it, he had no excuses other than being outwitted and outplayed. He really should've seen it coming the second time around... and the fourth... and the eighth... and the—

 _It. Doesn't. MATTER!_

It doesn't matter indeed because he had a hand on Takashi's neck, who was now out of all kinds of shotgun ammo, all of which were expended on Traveller-san's, once again, regenerating nuts. _Wait, nuts?... it kind of feels... as small as a nut now... that's not right..._

An ominous black fog surrounded him.

With Takashi paralyzed from his spell, Traveller-san could finally go about erasing his memories. But first, he was going to make a speech and gloat to his quarry's face.

"Well, terran weakling! You may have delayed me, but _this_ , is the difference between a boot and an a—"

A white portal suddenly appeared next to him.

"W-What sort of sorcery is this?" His grip slackened. His powers weren't working. And the portal was sucking him in! His eyes widened as he vaguely recognized the inside of the portal. It was his dimensional pocket! He then remembered irritably shoving his standard issue Don'tGoAnywhereNearThisInvisibleDome raygun inside the thing.

 _Damn it!_

Takashi came out of his paralysis and slapped away the hand on his neck. He had a feeling he'd won once he saw it appear. It seemed to paralyze the enforcer and it wasn't trying to suck him in along with the guy in front of him. So when he saw Traveller-san's panicked 'I am so screwed' face and his vain struggles at trying to not get sucked in, that basically sealed the idea.

He reached for his pistol— and got an even better idea. Takashi had a serene smile on his face as he very slowly unsheathed his sword. Apart from learning to fight dirty in every fight, he's also picked up some of Saeko's quirks. _I bet she'd be so wet if she were in my shoes right now._

 _Shit!_

"So, Traveller-san, I was wondering," Takashi said slowly, his serene smile on full force, "before you were interrupted earlier, what was it you were trying to say about boots and ants?"

 _Crap!_

"N-Now, now, T-Terran-sama," he gulped, "m-may I c-call you, T-Terran-sama?" His panicks were panicking. His powers weren't working and he can't pull anything out from his dimensional pocket because it was trying to pull _him_ in.

 _Fuck!_

Takashi drew his katana, which made a loud metallic 'schwing' as it was fully drawn from its scabbard. "Actually, my name's Komuro Takashi."

 _FuckShitCrapFuckShitCrap!_

"Well, K-Komuro-sama, you see... I wasn't r-really going to e-erase your memories... i-it was just... a p-prank?" he finished in a small hopeful voice.

Takashi didn't buy it for one second. He got into a stance, the tip of his sword brushing the ground.

 _Oh. Fuck. My. Life._

Murphy's Law raised to the power of two, apparently heard his plea and moved the portal— which was containing a condensed explosion of the overloaded power core— close enough to touch his arm. Its contained energy passed through his body. Also, at the same time, Takashi's sword slashed upwards—

"AAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"

—and stopped before it reached Traveller-san's nethers.

Takashi stared at the screaming idiot. He failed to notice the portal subtly touching Traveller-san's arm from behind.

 _Did he really think I was gonna cut up a helpless opponent? It was just a prank, bro!_

It was mean-spirited— and maybe, he was also feeling a little vengeful that he came really close to having his memories erased— but Takashi blames _them_ for his acquired macabre sense of humor.

Yes, he and Saeko had a sadistic streak— more so Saeko— but that was towards _them,_ and scum like the ones who thought that molesting schoolgirls on their way home was a perfectly normal hobby.

While the unnamed traveller had no regard over Takashi's personal well-being, he never tried to kill him either; even when he was tricked and shot many, many times in the dick. Takashi could respect that— or as much as you could respect someone who was trying to erase your memories.

"—HHHHHHHHH!"

Takashi facepalmed. _Seriously?_ _All that contemplating done, and h_ _e's still screaming?_ He sheathed his sword, and promptly decked the still screaming idiot on his cheek. And although Takashi wasn't harmed by the energy coursing through Traveller-san, it definitely did _something._

"—HHHHHHHHH-oomph!"

Takashi had only intended to make the noisy idiot shut up, but he had inadvertently punched Traveller-san right into the portal.

Also, the large meteorite that was forgotten until now finally finished its nap and woke up; crashing on a planet took out a lot of its energy. The meteorite heard Traveller-san's screaming and decided to flying super glomp its favorite plaything in the face, all the while making a sound that suspiciously sounded like a drawn out 'nyaa~' as it flew happily towards him.

Takashi jumped out of the way of the kitty-meteorite thingy.

 _Mommy..._

"AAAGHHHMMMPH!"

The now identified kitty-meteorite thingy purred in excitement as it rubbed its metaphorical face on Traveller-san's regenerating face. It can't wait to play Tag with him again in space! And this time, it would forever play the role of 'IT' while it would continuously try to flying super glomp its favorite plaything in the face.

Both idiotic enforcer and his new unwanted pet kitty-meteorite thingy were swallowed by the portal, and vanished from this universe forever.

Takashi blinked, shrugged, then sighed in relief. It wasn't his problem. And his memory was no longer in danger of being erased. He picked up his shotgun and walked over to his backpack. It's been a long day for him. Saeko and the others were probably getting worried.

And to think this all started because Takashi wanted to get Saeko an anniversary gift.

"No, that's not right," Takashi thought out loud, "this was all because I said, 'No sign of anyone, or _them_. Sweet! I'll just go in, get Saeko a present, and get out. Easy peazy. What could possibly go wrong?'"

 **. . .**

Unfortunately for one unnamed traveller, the place he was currently in was devoid of the concept of time and space. Thus, when Takashi opened his big fat mouth, his statement— which went through the portal that conveniently reappeared in the form of an invisible mic in front of his mouth— echoed around for eternity. This was heard by none other than Murphy's law raised to the power of two— correction: Murphy's law raised to the power of infinity.

"NYAAAAAAAAA~!"

The kitty-meteorite thingy was barreling towards Traveller-san's face at beyond light speed. It was so happy it could cry! It was finally happily reunited with its long lost favorite plaything after infinite light years of searching, and after what literally seemed like forever!

 _How is it... that this thing can move... or even find me... in a place where... TIME AND SPACE DOESN'T EVEN EXIST?!_

"AAAGHHHMMMPH!"

 **.  
** **. .**

 _[Somewhere in an alternate timeline]_

Komuro Takashi was slumped on the staircase's metal railing feeling sorry for himself. He was busy lamenting on his failed relationship with Hisashi. How could Hisashi dump him for Rei? Hadn't they promised to marry each other when they were little? Didn't they have fun every summer chasing each other on the beach, half-naked, laughing blissfully while saying things like, "Catch me if you can, Hisashi! Teeheehee~"

 _W-wha?!... WHAT?!_

"W-What the hell?!" Takashi shouted, violently recoiling from shock, "Where did that come from?!"

It was a strange thought indeed. He was, after all, dumped by Rei— who he may, or may not, have been in love with— and replaced by Hisashi. It was most _definitely not_ Hisashi he was in love with. And he most _certainly did not_ do those things with Hisashi while making that embarrassing cutesy "teeheehee~" noise.

Yes, he was brooding over his backstabbing best friend before that weird random thought. He was _not_ having weird fantasies about him. Should he continue brooding over Hisashi? Maybe he should switch to Rei instead?

 _Rei?... Oh joy... Nah, still too early in the day for that. Lunch break hasn't even ended yet. I'll do that when 5th period starts. Maybe I should brood over—_

Takashi's vision was suddenly filled with white. He knelt down, grabbing both sides of his head with his hands, and opening his mouth in a silent scream.

Ten years of worth of memories, events, images, people, _THEM—_ all came flooding into his mind.

When his vision returned, he was on all fours and his skin was clammy. He grabbed the metal bars in front of him and used it to prop himself up. Groggily, he surveyed the scenery in front of him. He was in Fujimi Academy—

 _What in the— this can't be right..._

Finding himself in an unfamiliar situation, his instincts kicked in. Takashi closed his eyes, calmed himself, and took a few moments to gather his thoughts.

 _Alright, so last thing I remember was punching the screaming idiot... wait, no... last thing I remember was fantasizing about a half-naked Hisashi— NO!... Where the fuck did that come from again?!_

Takashi shook his head. None of this was helping him at all. He oddly felt that, no, it was not supposed to help him at all, but rather, it was supposed to be for people to laugh at. _Weird, I'm the only one here tho—_

"Komuro Takashi," an imposing voice said from behind Takashi.

Takashi abruptly turned to face the one who sneaked up behind him. His eyes grew wide. Standing on the upper staircase, was a woman wearing a distinct white lab coat, behind her were two armed men in uniform. It was another traveller, and this one came prepared.

Takashi reached for his sword— _Oh... Right..._

The two guards visibly tensed, but otherwise did nothing.

"Relax, Komuro-san," the woman began, "we come in peace."

Takashi did not relax. "Yeah? There's _three_ of you, _one_ of me. _Two_ of your goons have weapons, _you_ can probably do the same crazy shit as the other guy. And then there's me: no powers, no weapons."

"A dozen, actually," she replied easily, her voice betraying no emotion, "the other nine are making sure nothing goes wrong."

Takashi was stunned, but he dare not show it in his face.

"As for you possessing no powers or weapons," here, the corner of the traveller's lips curled slightly upward, "records indicate that you're able to fight a traveller with nothing but your wits and primitive weapons," she said with a hint of admiration that momentarily broke her stoic facade. It was quite impressive after all. So impressive in fact, that they had to send a female traveller just to avoid a potential repeat of that embarrassing smackdown.

"So, all this just to wipe my memory, huh? Pretty overkill don'cha think, lady?" Takashi said conversationally. Internally, he was working out a strategy to steal one of the two guard's weapons.

"Actually, the higher-ups decided to let you keep your memories, both in this timeline and the original you from the other one; less trouble that way."

That gave Takashi pause. "Oh. So— wait... what?"

"Ah, yes, let me explain. That's why I'm here after all." The traveller turned around and addressed the two men behind her, "You two, go make sure the others are _actually_ freezing time properly and not playing Galaga."

"Yes, Ma'am!" the guards chorused. They saluted in unison and walked off.

 _Freezing time?!_ Takashi looked below and found that the people had indeed stopped walking, some mid-step. In the sky, some birds were frozen in the air. Takashi stared in awe.

 **. . .**

After checking that the TimeFreezingDome rayguns were working properly, the two guards met up with the rest of their unit who had set up a LAN party in the tent. They arrived to an intense intellectual debate.

"But I wanna go Teemo top!"

"Too late! My Yasuo top is locked in."

"Eww! Insta lock. I'm feeding!"

"I'm going ADC. Just letting you guys know."

"Ha! ADC in 2017?! LOL!"

"Dude, it's fine. Play support."

"Nah, I'm going Teemo top. Fuck this Yasuo main."

"Guys? I still need a support... guys?"

"Toxic player spotted! I'm reporting you after this game!"

"Let's win with the power of friendship! Say it with me, everyone! THE POWER OF—"

""""FUCK YOU!""""

The two guards looked at each other and nodded to the unspoken question. They were playing Galaga instead.

 **. . .**

Takashi was looking around in wonder. The traveller had expanded the platform of the staircase and added two fabric armchairs along with a small round table. She sat primly and took out a tea set from her dimensional pocket.

"Have a seat, Komuro-san. Tea?"

"Neat trick." Takashi took the seat across her. "Yes, please," he indulged her. Many years of dealing with scum and dangerous people made Takashi sensitive to hostility and deception. And right now, he didn't get any of that from the woman sipping tea in front of him. He took a sip and found it quite nice; soothing and relaxing. He hasn't had a decent cup of tea in nine ye—

 _No, that's not right... Rei dragged me to this tea shop just last month... ohh... this is— will get confusing real fast._

Takashi took one more sip of the tea, and found that it immediately made the headache disappear. "Man, this is good shit. What'd you put in it?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"I'm glad you like it. It was prepared beforehand. This particular brew is especially helpful against the effects of time and soul displacement."

"I see. It does help a lot. Thanks." _So now they're... helping me? Heh, guess I'll roll with it for now._ "'Displacement', huh? You said something about another me? What does that mean exactly?"

Thinking about the incompetent idiot that started this whole mess made the traveller drain her tea. She set the empty cup down and began, "When you punched the clown, the portal he accidentally created was discharging huge amounts of energy into his body—"

 _Oh, is that why he was screaming?_

"—it didn't harm you... for reasons we still can't understand why, but it made a copy of your soul—" she held up a hand to stall any questions and pressed on, "this copy went through the portal into the void to protect itself from being erased. You see, two identical souls can't stay in the same universe. But it still needed a vessel. We don't know how it did this, but somehow, it was able to open a wormhole into a universe close enough to its original one, this timeline specifically. And when it passed through, it instantly merged with you. All of the memories and experiences it accumulated in that universe have now been added to this universe's you."

The traveller poured tea on her empty cup and took a sip as Takashi processed the new information.

Takashi wished Saya was here. He'd become used to her explaining these kinds of things to him. Still, you don't spend a decade with a genius and not learn anything from them, especially when said genius made it a point to remind him every now and then, that he needed be at least half as intelligent as her if he was to lead them properly. _Damn harpy,_ he thought without any real malice.

With the tea helping Takashi clear his mind, he was now able to examine his memories without getting a massive headache. _Hmm... I can remember things much more clearly than before... is this the tea's doing?... Anyway, as far as I can tell, the memories from before the apocalypse are exactly the same... except for that one fantasy about me and Hisashi on a beach— god damn it! My eyes!_

Takashi immediately gulped down all of his tea. _Ahh... much better..._

The traveller looked at him sympathetically as she refilled his teacup.

He gave a nod of thanks. "So let me see if I understood this correctly: I'm not some clone, I'm still me; only now, I have the added memories and experiences of my future self from another universe?"

"Correct, Komuro-san."

"And your superiors are fine with this?" he asked, his eyes watching the traveller closely, "Last time I checked, the other guy tried to zap my head just coz I saw him."

The traveller picked up her teacup and downed the tea in one gulp. Takashi was starting to sympathize with her.

"Yes, they are." She set the cup down and refilled it. "And while, yes, our existence must be kept secret, he was also trying to erase your memories for another reason: to remove evidence of his incompetence, of which there are many. It will take us at least a century to fully repair all the damage he's caused—"

Takashi winced at that. He had a nagging feeling that he might (a very puny teensy tiny 'might') have maybe, possibly contributed to that damage in some small way.

"—We recognize that the fault lies entirely on one of our own, so we're willing to overlook this incident if you're willing to keep our existence a secret. Do this for us, and we will never bother you ever again."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Well, if you even attempt to make our existence public knowledge, then there will be no warning when we come for you. But yes, Komuro-san, 'just like that'," she said with a tone of finality, "do we have an agreement?"

Takashi didn't need to think twice. "It's a deal."

Takashi held out his hand and they shook on it. Relieved to be finally done with the whole thing.

After Takashi thanked her for the tea and for taking the time to explain everything to him, the traveller returned the platform to what it was before, said her goodbyes, and promptly vanished as if she was never there.

The surrounding area unfroze as time flowed again. Takashi whistled at that. Then he remembered something.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to ask for her name. And whatever happened to that idiot Traveller-san?"

In the distance, Takashi heard something that suspiciously sounded like a drawn out 'nyaa~' followed by a scream that turned to a muffled scream.

"Eh, whatever. Too late to ask about it now."


	2. Chapter 2: A Time to Live

Chapter publish date: 3/6/2017

* * *

Author's Notes: Originally, I planned to publish this chapter along with the first. But after I finished typing the prologue, I kind of got too excited at the idea of uploading my first chapter for the story, and I immediately published it xD.

Also, thank you very much to those who fav'd and followed!

I'd also like to give a one-time special thanks to zdeath01, AnimeLoverQ8, and Z Guest, for being the first to fav, follow, and review my story. I had a smile stuck on my face for the entire week because of you guys!

I hope you have fun reading this chapter. This is where the story really starts.

 _D_ _isclaimer:_ _Takashi belongs to Saeko._

* * *

 **Chapter 2: A Time to Live**

An electronic tone sounded through the school signifying the end of lunch break. Fifth period was starting.

Takashi took in his surroundings, absorbing the peace, savouring it— the calm before the storm. He stayed like this for a few minutes.

 _It's... gonna start soon..._

He gripped the handrails and stared down at the peaceful courtyard that will soon be filled with blood.

He gained a determined look, and began to think about his next course of action.

With his knowledge of what will happen, he could save more people this time if he wanted, but the group dynamic would become different, and that could be risky. On the other hand, he's had years of experience leading, taking charge of the situation, but would they all listen to a 17-year-old?

The memories came easy to him. He remembered what he saw down in the school gates. And so Takashi had a decision to make: does he let the events play out like before? Will he save those teachers, or does he let them die?

The decision was surprisingly an easy one. He was going to save them. Prevent _them_ from getting in, delay the chaos. He was going to change the future. And this was going to be his first goal.

 _I'll save them, but if they don't want to follow my lead, then they're on their own._

He had to delay his plans though. When he heard movement behind him, his instincts kicked in.

 _Up the stairs..._

He turned around and sprinted straight up— and almost bumped into someone, someone who had long pink hair tied into two pony tails on either side of her head. The lack of her glasses threw Takashi off for a second.

"Hey! Watch it, stupid!" she shouted.

"What the— what are you doing here, harpy?" O _h right... Saya was going to give me a speech about being stupid._ He should've remembered that. He gave an internal shrug. Getting nagged by a harpy wasn't all that important compared to what was about to happen.

"I... you... w-what did you just call me?!" Saya sputtered, her face reddening with her rising temper, "For your information, I was going to—"

"I don't have time for this right now," Takashi said in a serious tone and turned around.

She was sputtering incoherently now. Here she was, taking the time to help get Takashi out of his funk, and he was being rude to her. _That's... it! I'm giving him a piece of my—_

Before Mount Saya could erupt however, Takashi looked at her over his shoulder. "Oh and, Saya, be ready," and with that Takashi ran down the steps.

Saya's anger was replaced with confusion. _Be ready?... Be ready for what?... And what was the idiot acting all serious for? What's he up to?... Wait, d-did Komuro just call me by my first name?_

Mount Saya erupted into a full blush.

 **.  
** **. .**

Takashi was at the school gates with a baseball bat in one hand and a cellphone in the other. Once again, he checked the time, it was nearing 6th period.

 _Still nothing... did the fucker stop for take out or something?_

"Komuro-san! What do you think you're doing out here?"

Takashi turned to see the teacher, Hayashi Kyoko, eyeing him suspiciously.

 _Saving you and Tejima-sensei... from imaginary deaths... seriously, what's going on here?_

"Skipping class is one thing, but you know we don't tolerate violence in this school," she continued, "this is no way to solve your dispute with Igou-san."

Takashi blinked at that. _Dispute? The hell is she on about?_

Then it came to him: he was holding a baseball bat, his cellphone was flipped open in the other, and then there's the whole drama between him, Rei, and Hisashi, that the whole school seems to know about.

Takashi groaned. _She thinks I called Hisashi out to have an all-out brawl._ "Sensei, it's not what you think."

Kyoko was not convinced. "Very well, Komuro-san, then you wouldn't mind if I confiscated your weapon?"

"It's not—" _Well technically, I guess it is since I was gonna use it on_ them, "alright, sensei." Takashi sighed and handed over his baseball bat.

"No more violence. Are we clear, Komuro-san?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, sensei," he said in a defeated tone.

"Also, please make sure to attend your classes. You're a smart young man. You don't want to end up becoming a delinquent, do you?"

Takashi sighed once again, "Yes, sensei. Of course not, sensei."

Kyoko nodded, satisfied with Takashi's responses, and walked away.

And so, Komuro Takashi, fearless slayer of the undead, just got lectured like a child and had his weapon snatched away by a strict disciplinarian teacher. A dry wind whistled past him accompanied by a rolling tumbleweed.

"Okaaay, that just happened."

Takashi turned towards the gate, looking for any signs of _them_ once again. _Still nothing, huh?... Well, screw it._ He dialed three numbers on his cellphone and hit 'call'.

" _This is the police department. Do you wish to report a crime—"_

"Listen, are the emergency lines receiving a ton of incoming calls?"

" _I'm sorry. What's your emerg—"_

Click.

Takashi hung up, dialed '119', and hit 'call'.

" _This is the fire department. Is there a fire—"_

Click.

He dialed '110' again, and sure enough, the same woman answered the call. He hung up. The emergency lines were working. Takashi stared at his phone, caught off guard by the situation.

 _I don't get it... maybe... yeah... it's worth checking out..._

He opened his cellphone's mobile web browser and went to various social media websites. Looking at the most recent posts: people were debating about who gets to be 'best girl' of the year, bragging about their waifu while calling other people's waifu shit, Yuri on Ice is best— Takashi abruptly closed the tab before he started fantasizing about Hisashi again from out of nowhere.

 _Hmm, what about the U.S.? That's where it all started_.

It wasn't all that different: people were still complaining about Trump, posting cat videos, calling Subaru dickless for rejecting Rem... none of it were even remotely about _them._

Yes, all seems right with the world.

Takashi didn't seem to think so. He minimized the browser and checked the date, then he cross-checked it with three different internet time servers. It was correct. He was confused. This was Z-Day, he was sure of it.

 _I don't get it... Unless I just dreamed it all... Multiverses... Time travel... Travellers... Memories from a different future... It was pretty crazy after all... Maybe I'm going— memories... m-memories! A different future! A different time! A different universe!... Could it be?..._

Takashi stood there, just staring at the date on his phone, his eyes wide as he considered the possibilities; one of which that would change everything if it were true.

 _A normal life... A future without_ them _in it..._

 **. . .**

Takashi was slowly walking back to the main building, lost in his thoughts.

In the distance ahead of him, were a couple of 3rd years who just finished with their P.E. class, and were now on their way back to their classroom for 6th period. Some of them were looking over their shoulder, casting sidelong glances at Takashi then turning to whisper and giggle at each other.

Takashi narrowed his eyes at their backs. He knew what they were laughing about. He knew it involved Rei and Hisashi. _Oh right. Now I remember why I don't like most of these fuckers... These were the people I wanted to save? Hah!_

Gusts of wind swept by Takashi and continued to the 3rd years. The girls who had been giggling had their skirts lifted, their giggles turned into 'kyaa~'. The guys who had been whispering were now wolf-whistling, while some were making a show of bending low to peek up at the girls' skirts.

Takashi would've probably done the same just to aggravate them— the girls at least— and get some small payback. He probably would've laughed at them, or made some smug comment, or huffed at their behavior.

However, Takashi's eyes weren't on them. His eyes were trained on a tall girl coming out of the dojo. She had purple hair that flowed past her back and gleamed in the sun, a triangular fringe between her blue eyes, and bangs that framed her face. She wore the school's sailor uniform, and since her skirt was longer than normal, she didn't suffer the same fate as the giggling girls from her class. She was walking alone, carrying a bokken sheathed in a purple sash.

She was Busujima Saeko, Takashi's lover and best friend. And she just walked past him without as much as a second glance in his direction.

Takashi's heart clenched as he felt the pain before the thought even occurred. _She... she doesn't remember me._

"Saeko..." he said in a soft, pained whisper.

Though Saeko was ahead of Takashi by a few steps now, she still heard the faint whisper of her first name. It was enough to draw her attention.

She turned around and saw that it was the guy with spiky black hair who was staring at her; something that she didn't pay any special attention to since she was used to being stared at by her schoolmates— the guys especially. But now that he had her attention, she noted the pained look on his face, then his surprise, which quickly disappeared and was replaced by a determined look; his brown eyes were intense as it gazed at her own.

Saeko raised one eyebrow at him. She had an idea of what was about to happen. She'd seen that look on other guy's faces who were trying to gather their courage before confessing to her.

 _And to think it's only been a few weeks since the semester began_ , Saeko thought as she patiently waited for the inevitable... it never came.

Takashi's intense eyes softened. "I'm sorry—" he frowned, but it quickly went away, "senpai. I didn't mean to address you so clumsily. It just slipped out."

 _Did he lose his nerve?_ "Oh. No need to apologize, um..."

Takashi closed his eyes to keep the pain from showing. When it passed, he opened his eyes and replied, "Komuro Takashi. Class 2-B."

"I'm Busujima Saeko from 3-A, nice to meet you," she said politely, then she looked at him strangely, "I'm sorry, but have we met before?"

Takashi was internally panicking a little. He knew he was acting weird in front of her. Thinking quickly he said, "No, we haven't, senpai. I only know you by reputation. You completely decimated your competitors in the nationals last year. You won the entire thing without a single opponent getting a point on you. None of them were even close to your level. That's pretty badass."

Saeko smiled at the praise. "Why thank you, Komuro-kun." She paused and looked pensive. "Hmm, I think I've heard of you as well..."

Takashi's eyes widened, slowly filling with hope. _Does she remember me after all?_

Saeko's eyes lit up. "Yes, I remember now. Some of my classmates were calling you 'Delinquent Juliet'—"

Takashi closed his eyes again. _No... she doesn't..._

"—waiting for 'Lady Romeo' on your balcony." Saeko then noticed Takashi's closed eyes. "I-It's just something I overheard. I didn't mean to—"

Takashi stayed silent.

Saeko took a flustered step forward. "I'm sorry, Komuro-kun. If I knew that this was such a sensitive issue for you, I wouldn't have brought it up. That was rather callous of me." She then reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but Takashi cleared his throat and knelt down...

"O senpai, senpai! Wherefore art thou senpai?  
Deny thy rumors and remove thy preconceptions.  
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,  
And I'll no longer be a Delinquent."

Saeko blinked at his dramatic pose... and broke into a fit of giggles, her hand covering her mouth.

Takashi stood up and smiled a wistful smile. "Hey, don't laugh. I thought I delivered the lines quite well."

Saeko settled down, wiping at her eyes. "Yes. Yes, you did, Komuro-kun. A little too well."

Takashi grinned at that and bowed. "Thanks, senpai." _Well, it's not like there's anything better to do in a post-apocalyptic world when we weren't busy killing_ them. _We had to entertain ourselves somehow... And also... I'd do more than just stop being a delinquent if only—_

Takashi shook the thought away. "So, 'Delinquent Juliet' and 'Lady Romeo'... that's what the whole school has been calling us behind our backs?"

Saeko winced. "Again, I'm sorry for even mentioning it, Komuro-kun. But, yes, that's what I overheard."

"You've got nothing to apologize for, senpai. I know you're not the type to spread around gossip," Takashi said easily, "I gotta hand it to them though, it's actually fitting."

"I'm relieved to hear that. But how is it fitting?"

"Well, I've been skipping class and spending my time in the staircase over there," Takashi pointed to the staircase overlooking the courtyard, "it sort of works as a balcony. As for 'Lady Romeo', it's probably something my classmates came up with, seeing as Rei is really loud and not very ladylike."

"I see." Saeko didn't like the rumors. To her, personal affairs should be no one else's business.

"Anyway, senpai, I plan to reconcile with my friends today so I don't have to skip classes anymore. That should put an end to these rumors, so don't trouble yourself over it."

"Then I hope you succeed, Komuro-kun." Saeko nodded in approval and looked thoughtful. "Although, I suppose this means that I won't see you acting out any more scenes from Romeo and Juliet. It's a shame you didn't join the drama club last year when they did the play," she said, the corners of her lips curling upward.

He chuckled. "I'd improv too much. They probably wouldn't want that."

Saeko chuckled along with him. "Yes, that's true. But with some of the inaccurate translations, they might not have noticed it if you changed a line or two."

Takashi paused at the thought of clubs, and got an impulsive idea. "Say," he began, "are you free after club practice, senpai?"

Saeko's smile turned sly as one of her eyebrows rose. "Oh? Are you asking me out, Komuro-kun?"

Takashi matched her sly smile. "Actually, Busujima-senpai, do you think you and I could have a match?"

That definitely took her by surprise. _Did I hear him correctly?_

Seeing Saeko's pause, Takashi continued. "If I win, then you're forbidden from asking me out," he said cheekily.

Yes, she heard him correctly. "Is that so?" she laughed softly, "I must say, Komuro-kun, when I first saw you, I didn't expect you to challenge me to a match. What brought this on all of a sudden?"

"I actually have experience in kendo, senpai. I want to test for myself how good you really are."

"Well, yes I'm free... but are you serious about this, Komuro-kun? You want to have a real match with me?"

Takashi gave a single nod, then his eyes became intense once again. It was the same eyes Saeko saw when she thought he was about to confess to her. This time though, she realized something new: although his brown eyes were just as intense as before, she could now see that her initial thoughts of him were wrong.

 _He's different. He doesn't have the eyes of someone trying to gather the courage to confess. No... his eyes are sharp... like he can see right through me..._

"I'm very serious."

Saeko reflexively took a step back. That unexpected thought unnerved her.

"What's the matter, senpai? Scared of a little friendly match?" Takashi taunted.

Saeko banished the thought. "Of course not, Komuro-kun. I accept your challenge."

"Great! I'll be at the dojo after everyone has left. Is that alright with you, senpai?"

 _He doesn't want any spectators hmm._ "That's fine. And, Komuro-kun?" Saeko paused. When she reevaluated her first impression of him, another thought came to her: the event that had led to it— he had whispered her first name. She knows that Takashi already apologized— that it was just an accident on his part— but now that she was thinking about it again... _Why did he sound so hurt?_

Saeko looked up to see him smiling warmly at her, still waiting patiently for her to finish the question she left hanging. She blushed at that. Whether it was because of Takashi smiling at her, or because of her blunder, or both, she didn't know.

"I-It's nothing, Komuro-kun. Forget about it."

"What is it, senpai? You can ask me anything," he said earnestly.

 _Saeko,_ his pained whisper echoed in Saeko's mind. "I-I... why did..."

Takashi took pity on her and decided to help her out. "You know I'm still a delinquent at the moment right, senpai? I can skip classes and play 20 questions with you all day, if you want. I promise it'll be fun."

It worked. Saeko laughed demurely.

 _Man... I do love hearing that sound..._

"Really, Komuro-kun. It's nothing," she said, "and besides, I'm not a delinquent. So I'm afraid I have to attend my classes."

"Oh, 6th period. Right." Takashi took out his phone. "You have a couple minutes before it starts, senpai. I'm sorry if I delayed you."

"It's cool..." she paused, thinking about asking him anyway. She shook her head. "I'm heading to class. I'll see you later at the dojo for our match, Komuro-kun."

Takashi nodded. "See you later."

Saeko walked off and Takashi watched her disappear into the main building.

"Saeko."

 **.  
** **. .**

Saeko was standing alone in front of a mirror in the girls' bathroom, staring at her reflection.

"Komuro Takashi."

She found it very odd that she got along so well with him. He had been awkward at first, but he had quickly turned that around. He talked and joked with her like he was an old friend, as if he had known her since childhood— another thing she found odd. And yet... she had enjoyed their banter; enough to even flirt with him a little.

 _Oh? Are you asking me out Komuro-kun?..._

Saeko blushed at that, then saw that her reflection was doing the same. _W-Wait, blushed? Have I been blushing in front of him the entire time like some little girl?_

Saeko refused to believe it. She did not blush. Nope! She also did not 'flirt'. Nope! She never flirted, period— other than, perhaps, a certain incident four years ago.

Her thoughts went elsewhere.

She remembered his sharp brown eyes gazing at her intensely. _Saeko..._

 _Does he know?... Can he see what I'm—_ Saeko lightly slapped both of her cheeks twice then shook her head.

Finally composed, her lips slowly stretched into a smile. It was the kind of smile she never showed her peers, the one that she's always hidden behind a mask of politeness and maturity, the kind that was bordering on sadistic.

 _I sure hope he's ready for our match later._

 **.  
** **. .**

Takashi was slumped over, shuffling to his class. He decided that he kind of missed sitting in a relatively peaceful environment after all those years of death and destruction.

The reason why he was currently impersonating _them_ however, was because of Saeko.

Yes, he had been in a good mood while he was talking with her, but that good mood also walked off with her. Then, he thought about what happened before their conversation, she doesn't remember him. After that, he thought about her almost remembering him, she still doesn't remember him. Thus, his current state.

 _Well, at least I get to see her again later..._

He checked his phone again and refreshed the various social media websites he left open.

 _Still the same stupid shit... that's... good..._

He didn't know how to feel about that yet. Deep inside, he was still expecting the apocalypse to come. He was going to think about it later.

With a sigh, he pocketed his phone.

In Takashi's troubled state, he failed to notice the very obvious clump of air on the floor and tripped on it. At the same time, coming out of the corner, was a guy with gray hair followed by a girl with orange hair antennae.

The guy with gray hair saw someone trip, and being the nice guy that he is, moved to catch said person in his arms.

"Takashi?"

Takashi, coming out of his daze, realized that he'd tripped and was currently in someone's arms. Someone who had gray hair, a warm voice, and sparkles all around—

"Hisashi? Oh no..." Takashi's eyes widened in fear as he looked up to the face of his ex-boy— ex-best friend.

Hisashi saw his friend's panicked look. And Hisashi, being the nice guy he is, pushed aside their recent drama to make sure that his friend was okay.

"Takashi? What's wrong, man? Are you okay?" he asked in genuine concern. The background blurred behind him. The sparkles now had glitters on them. Harps were strung.

"Oh gods, no. Please, no..."

 **. . .**

Takashi felt that he was lying comfortably on something warm and soft. He tried to get up, but found himself too weak to be able to do so.

"Takashi," a gentle voice chided, "you need to get some rest. You're too sick to be moving around."

"H-Hisa... Hisa... shi?"

Takashi's eyes bulged in terror as for some inexplicable reason or another, Hisashi was currently shirtless and emitting a golden glittery aura.

"I'm here, buddy."

Hisashi then gently propped a hyperventilating Takashi to a sitting position.

"I made you some soup. You have to get your strength back. Now open wide and say, 'AAH~'."

 **. . .**

Behind Takashi, the sound of glass cracking could be heard, then it shattered into a million pieces.

"GAH! MY EYES!" Takashi shouted. He was frantically rubbing at his eyes, vainly trying to scrub away what he just witnessed.

"Takashi? Talk to me. Do you need the school nurse?" Hisashi asked, visibly worried now.

Takashi, still in Hisashi's arms, gripped the front of Hisashi's uniform and pulled him close.

"Takashi! What do you think you're doing?! Let Hisashi go! Now!" screamed Lady Romeo, a.k.a. Miyamoto Rei.

Takashi ignored her. "Hisashi," he began, his voice grave, "you have to promise me something..."

Hisashi, hearing Takashi's tone, thought that this was about what was going on with the three of them. He matched Takashi's serious tone. "Yeah? What is it?"

"You have to promise me that you'll never, NEVER, ever visit me if I get sick, take care of me, then feed me, while being shirtless, while telling me to open wide, while saying 'AAH~'."

 _Uhhh... What?_ Hisashi would've said this out loud, but seeing his friend's almost manic eyes, he could only nod and agree. "Um, okay... I promise."

"Also, if I ever ask you to go to the beach with me, knock my lights out, tie me up, and take me to the nearest mental institution."

"S-Sure, man. I promise."

Takashi let Hisashi go, sighed, and nodded. "Good."

"You, uh, gonna tell us what that was all about?" asked Hisashi.

Takashi visibly shivered. "You're better off not knowing. Trust me."

Rei, feeling irritated at being ignored, decided to make her presence known. "Geez, Takashi. What's with you all of a sudden?"

Takashi looked to her and casually said, "Oh hey, Rei."

"I... h-hey..." she replied, feeling overwhelmed with Takashi's new behavior.

Hisashi decided to voice both his and Rei's confusion. "So what's up, Takashi? You seem... different."

They were rightly confused. Takashi had avoided both Rei and him like the plague, or he pretended that they didn't exist when he had to be around them. They, in turn, did the same. And now he was acting like none of that ever happened.

For Takashi, this had all been 10 years ago. He had moved on. He held no ill will against both of them. Not Rei, who he had eventually patched things up with. And especially not Hisashi who had been dead.

 _Alright, I'm fixing this right now._

"Different? Oh, you mean this awkward thing between the three of us?"

Hisashi winced, and Rei slumped.

"Guys, I'm over the whole thing. Really."

Rei was stunned by that. She knew how straightforward Takashi can be. Still, she had to ask. "Are you really, Takashi?"

"Yeah, I am. Look, Rei, I know I wasn't there for you when you needed me to be, but I was dealing with my own problems at the time too. I know I could've at least listened to you, and I could've told you about my problems, but I didn't. I'm sorry."

Rei gaped at Takashi. Then she processed Takashi's words, and her head hung low— downcast, her lips quivering. "T-Takashi... I... I'm sorry too." she said, her voice quaking.

Slowly, it came to her: the guilt— the shame— the regret. She was feeling guilty over how poorly she treated him: pushing him away and telling him that he wouldn't understand. She felt ashamed of her actions; regretted hurting him just because she thought he wouldn't understand. And here he was, showing her that he could understand, and apologizing of all things. She couldn't take it. She ran away.

"E-Excuse me..."

Takashi sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He had said about the same words when he and Rei patched things up in the other universe. This was not the outcome he expected.

 _Well, we did have_ them _on our asses almost everyday... desperate times. Maybe that's what pushed her to patch things up faster... Maybe this Rei's still hurting from what that bastard did to her dad and repeating the grade?... I'll give her time. She's got Hisashi to help her through this now..._

Takashi turned to Hisashi and saw that he wasn't going after Rei, but rather, staring at him intensely.

Takashi inwardly panicked. _Oh, crap_ _!_ _He's gonna confess! I need to distract him. Fast!_

As casually as he can, Takashi said, "So, uh, Hisashi, aren't you... you know... going after her?"

"I will in a minute. Listen, Takashi. I wanna apologize to you."

Takashi inwardly sighed in relief. He nodded for Hisashi to continue.

"This was all because of me. If... if I hadn't gone behind your back... if I told you I was in love with Rei, maybe things would've worked out better, and we wouldn't be in this mess. I'm really sorry, Takashi."

Takashi smiled. "Like I said, I'm over it. Apology accepted."

"So we're cool? Really? Just like that?" Hisashi asked, stunned.

Takashi's eyes narrowed. "What? You want me to give you a hug, or something?"

Hisashi, remembering his friend's earlier almost manic eyes, quickly waved his hands in front of him. "No, no. Nothing like that. I'm just surprised is all."

"Alright, I'm going to class then. Better to be late than not go at all right?"

"Yeah. Hey, Takashi... thank you... for understanding."

Takashi nodded.

Hisashi turned to go after Rei. But before he could go after her, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at Takashi over his shoulder.

"Hey, man. I know this'll probably sound strange to you, but I'm glad you're alright," said Takashi.

Hisashi blinked. Takashi was right. He didn't understand. But seeing his friend's genuine smile made him nod anyway. "Um, thanks."

With that, Takashi turned around and walked off, leaving a confused Hisashi who shook it off and went to find Rei.

 **.  
** **. .**

Takashi slid open the door to his class then walked in— and reflexively reached for his non-existent shotgun.

 _Right... they're people, not_ them.

Takashi closed his eyes and used the memory of this universe to suppress his instincts. He hadn't been with this many people at once for a long time.

 _This'll take some getting used to..._

When he opened his eyes, the entire class was staring at him. One in particular caught his attention. The man— young man in this universe— who taught him everything he knew about guns: Hirano Kohta. There was no confidence in those eyes. No pride.

 _Right, he also doesn't know me yet..._

"Komuro! If you're not skipping my class, then take a seat!"

Takashi bowed to the teacher. "I'm sorry for being late, sensei."

After Takashi took his seat, the teacher cleared his throat and continued with his lesson.

Saya was gaping at Takashi. _Komuro going to class? Komuro being polite and apologizing for being late? Komuro telling me weird things and... c-c-calling me by my first name—_ Saya shook her head— _you're acting weird today. What's going on with you, Komuro?_

 **. . .**

In the middle of 6th period, Rei and Hisashi walked in, both giving Takashi a nod.

Takashi nodded back. He noted Rei's slightly puffy eyes and sent Hisashi an inquiring look.

Hisashi gave him a tired look and shrugged.

Takashi rubbed the back of his head. _So Rei wasn't opening up to Hisashi huh. Well good luck, man. You'll need it against that banshee._

Takashi felt someone staring at him. Turning his head slightly, he saw Saya looking at him suspiciously. He raised an eyebrow at her, but all she did was abruptly face front.

 _Oh, right. I kinda gave her a cryptic message earlier. Another thing I've gotta deal with—_

Takashi sighed.

— _So I go from dealing with insane lunatics and walking corpses on an almost daily basis, to dealing with high school problems. Why do I feel like the universe is finding my situation amusing?..._

 _Eh, whatever. This is kinda nice... hearing sensei drone about math equations which I'll probably never use in my whole life except to pass an exam. It's boring and it puts you to sleep, but it's peaceful..._

 _..._

An electronic tone sounded through the school. Classes were done for the day.

Takashi stretched in his seat and yawned. He checked his phone again and refreshed the tabs he left open. _Still nothing..._

"Well, someone seems pretty relaxed as usual. And here I thought you'd been replaced with an alien clone."

Takashi pocketed his phone, stood up, and turned to the girl addressing him. "Hello to you too, Saya. And by the way, it's not 'alien clone'. I'm actually the combined result of the original me and a cloned soul of me that came from a post-apocalyptic alternate future 10 years from now. So technically, I'm a messiah destined to save this world from certain destruction. You got the clone part right though, so one point to you," he said smugly.

Saya had a tick mark above her eye, her clenched fist slowly raising above her head.

"I take it back... you're still... being a weirdo," she said through gritted teeth.

Someone chuckled from behind Saya.

"Don't let it get to you, Takagi-san," said Hisashi, "he was like that with us earlier too."

Rei nodded in agreement from beside Hisashi. "Yeah... you're different... Takashi. I kinda like it."

Saya didn't like the tone in Rei's voice. "Yeah? Well make sure not to like him too much this time. This weirdo might regress to being an idiot again."

Takashi saw Lady Romeo's— a.k.a. Miyamoto Rei— red face and winced in advance. _Banshee scream in... 3... 2... 1..._

"W-W-What the hell, Takagi?! I didn't mean it like that!" Rei screamed in indignation.

"Sheesh, it was just a joke, stupid. No need to get all defensive," Saya said with no remorse in her tone.

Rei wasn't convinced. If glares could make people spontaneously combust, Saya's hair would be on fire right now.

Takashi sighed. "Can you guys not add to the rumors please? It's bad enough as it is."

"Yeah. We're kinda causing a scene here," Hisashi added.

Around the four of them, their classmates had indeed paused from gathering their things and were watching the scene in front of them as if they were watching a play.

Saya glared at them. They unfroze, averted their gaze, quickly gathered their belongings, and scurried out of the room.

She sighed. _I just wanted to talk to him; ask him about what he said to me earlier... Why did these morons get in the way? Of course with his new weirdness, he managed to make up with them already..._

"Whatever. Those idiots won't dare spread a rumor about me," said Saya. She turned around and paused. With her back to the three of them, she said, "I'll talk to you some other time... Takashi."

The three of them watched her walk out of the classroom.

Hisashi spoke first. "So, mind telling us what that was all about?"

Rei, who was still glaring, turned to Takashi. "Yeah. What was _that_ all about?"

"What? What did I do this time?" Takashi asked, alarm bells ringing in his head. He was having an eery feeling of deja vu.

"Dude, you've never won an argument against Takagi-san. Never. And now you suddenly get one over her?" Hisashi said with a smirk.

Takashi smirked back at him.

Rei cut in. "You're calling each other by your first names... when did that happen?" she asked, her glare was gone, but it was replaced with narrowed eyes.

Hisashi was looking at Rei. He thought about what Saya said earlier, and then Rei getting all worked up. He shook it away. _It's probably nothing. Just Rei being Rei..._

Takashi internally sighed. He'd seen that exact same look on Rei in the other universe when she was being jealous over Saeko. It was the same look she had whenever she was not-so-subtly trying to get between him and Saeko, and whenever she was getting in an argument with Saeko for no other reason than to argue with her...

Takashi then thought back to the time when Rei had somehow managed to convince Saeko to share, saying that the normal rules of society didn't apply anymore, and that no one would judge them over it anyway. Rei then kissed him in front of Saeko. His eyes however, were open. He took one glance at the look of hurt on Saeko's face and immediately pushed Rei away. He put an end to any ideas of sharing after that. Rei didn't talk to him for weeks. But Saeko was happy, and that was more important to him.

 _Well, that sure didn't take long... I don't get it. She has Hisashi now doesn't she?_

For now, Takashi decided he'd give her the benefit of the doubt. "What are you on about, Rei? Me and Saya have been friends since childhood. You know that."

"Uh, huh," Rei said suspiciously, then she turned pensive, "Takashi, can I talk to you alone? I wasn't able to talk to you earlier... after... you know." She turned to Hisashi. "Is that alright with you, Hisashi?"

Hisashi nodded in understanding. "I'll wait at the library."

Rei smiled at him. "Thanks, Hisashi."

Hisashi nodded to Takashi and walked out.

 **. . .**

The silence stretched on as Rei stood in front of Takashi and twiddled her thumbs between her clasped hands. Takashi waited patiently for her to begin.

"So, Hisashi told me that you two talked... after I left," she began, "I'm glad you two are okay now."

"Yeah, we are. You're not though. So what's bothering you, Rei?"

Rei looked at him strangely. "You are. How can you be so calm about this? Aren't you mad at me, Takashi?" she asked, then her eyes started to water, "I-I... I know I hurt you."

"Yeah, you did. But I'm fine now, really. I'm not mad at you, Rei. Anyway, none of that matters to me right now."

"What do you mean it doesn't? How can it not—"

"Can you tell me what happened?" Takashi interrupted, "I know I wasn't there for you at the time like I should've been, but I promise I'll listen now."

"I-I..." she hesitated, but when she saw him sit and nod at her, looking serious, she sighed and gave in.

She took the seat next to Takashi and told him everything that she told Hisashi: the reason for her repeating the grade, what happened with her father, everything that she's been dealing with after school ended last month.

Takashi listened through it all; making remarks and offering words of comfort when appropriate. Then Rei, already at her emotional limit, told him in tears how guilty she felt over hurting him. It came as a shock to Takashi, seeing Rei in that state.

Sure, in the other universe, she had made a desperate attempt at trying to be with him— going as far as to beg him to love her even if it meant that she had to share. But Takashi hadn't seen this side of her after the outbreak for a very long time. He had been used to the Rei who was strong and willing to dive into hordes of _them._

In the years of being the group's leader, Takashi had developed a sense of responsibility over every member. And they, in turn, looked up to him as the big brother of their group. It was the same for Rei after she had finally accepted that her love would remain unrequited.

And Takashi, seeing a crying teenaged Rei, didn't question the sense of responsibility he felt for her.

He went over to her and gently pulled her into a hug. "Hey, like I told you, I'm alright. Stop worrying about me. You've got enough problems to deal with as it is."

Rei was shocked at first, but eventually hugged him back.

"I'm sorry, Takashi," she whispered on his shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm sorry too," he whispered back.

After a brief moment of silence, Rei chuckled lightly.

Takashi pulled back from the hug. "What are you laughing at?" he asked with a smile, glad that his friend was feeling a little better.

"It's nothing," she replied, now smiling as well, "it's just that I got a hug while Hisashi didn't."

Takashi tried to imagine that... _Hmm, a shirtless Hisa—_ and violently squashed the thought. He visibly shivered. _That was too close. Too. Damn. Close._

"Takashi? What's wrong?" Rei asked.

Takashi visibly shivered again. "You're better off not knowing. Trust me."

Rei looked at him strangely, but she remembered that he said the same thing earlier with Hisashi, and didn't ask. She also remembered what Takashi said to her that time and decided to ask him about it.

"Hey, Takashi, earlier you said you had to deal with some problems too. Can you tell me about it?"

"Sure, but it's already been taken care of for the most part. You still wanna know?"

Rei nodded.

Takashi thought about it, and then he began. "Before you and Hisashi started dating, I've seen the way he looks at you. I knew he was in love with you," Takashi saw her eyes widen, he continued on, "then, there were my own feelings to consider. If I had asked you out, I knew it would break us apart. I didn't know what to do, so I kept putting it off. It just seemed like no matter what I decided, we'd end up breaking apart. And it did break us apart like I thought it would. So now, here I am, trying to fix things between the three of us."

Rei gave him a sad smile. "That sounds just like you, Takashi. Always so selfless..." Her head hung low, feeling the guilt surfacing again.

But Takashi would have none of it.

Rei leaned back in surprise when she saw a pinky in front of her face. She looked up to see Takashi looking sheepish.

Takashi rubbed the back of his head with his other hand. "Hey, let's make a new promise. I know it sounds cheesy and lame, but what do you say to being friends forever?"

Rei gaped at him for a few seconds. "Pft... hahaha!"

"Just do it already before I gag," he said in complete deadpan.

Rei smiled at him as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Alright, alright, geez."

She entwined her pinky around his, and they promised to be friends forever.

Rei was happy that she finally patched things up with Takashi. Still, a small part of her felt sad when she thought about the promise she made to him when they were kids. She shook the thought away.

"Come on. Let's go meet up with Hisashi," said Rei.

"Don't you have sojutsu club practice?"

"I'll just skip for today. Attendance isn't mandatory," she took a look at the clock above the blackboard, "besides there's only 30 minutes left before it ends."

"Alright, let's go."

 **.  
. .**

Hisashi looked up when he heard his name called.

The librarian hushed the noisy girl who disturbed the silence.

Rei sheepishly apologized while Takashi quietly laughed at her, which made Rei glare at him.

Hisashi was surprised by that. _Seems like they finally made up. Seeing them like this— it's like nothing ever changed._ He smiled at the thought.

Hisashi spoke up first when they reached him. "Hey, Rei, Takashi," he greeted. Turning to Takashi, he said, "So, are we all good?"

Takashi held up his fist. "Yeah, we're cool."

Hisashi bumped his with Takashi's.

Rei smiled at the both of them. "Hey, let's celebrate. I wanna go karaoke."

"I'm down for that," said Hisashi, then he turned to Takashi, "what about you, man?"

"Sorry guys. I can't today."

Rei was dejected to hear that. "What? Why not?"

Hisashi was eyeing Takashi. _Does he think he'll be a th_ _ir_ _d wheel? Plus, I know Takashi doesn't like karaoke much. Maybe I should suggest something el—_

"Well... I sort of have this match with someone and—" Takashi began, but got interrupted.

Hisashi facepalmed and let out a long sigh. "Alright. Who did you piss off this time, Takashi?"

Rei was relieved to hear that Takashi wasn't trying to avoid spending time with them like she initially thought. But when she heard about the match, she got just as worried as Hisashi.

Takashi was indignant. "Hey, I resent that. I did not piss off anyone."

Rei and Hisashi both looked at him dubiously.

"Seriously, I didn't piss off anyone." They were still silently looking at him dubiously. Takashi cleared his throat. "Anyway, I have a match with someone. You guys can't come, and I can't tell you about it for now. I can tell you that it's not trouble though, so I'll be just fine."

"But why can't you just tell us, Takashi?" asked Rei.

Hisashi answered for Takashi. "It's fine, Rei. I'm sure Takashi knows what he's doing," he turned to Takashi, "right, man?"

Takashi smiled gratefully at that. "Of course. As for karaoke... you guys doing anything this Sunday?"

Rei and Hisashi both agreed to that, happy to have their friend back.


	3. Chapter 3: A Time to Live 2

Chapter publish date: 3/26/2017

* * *

Author's Notes: So, my original plan was to write chapters 4 & 5, and upload them this month too. But then, came along this little section highlighted in red called: _Insert fight scene here._ That took WAAAY longer than I expected. O.o

Anyway... wow. Wow! The story now has double digits on favs and follows! Thanks guys! Thank you very much! Thanks to those who reviewed as well! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story.

I hope you have fun reading this chapter. :D

 _D_ _isclaimer:_ _T_ _akashi belongs to Saeko._

* * *

 **Chapter 3: A Time to Live 2**

"Good work today!"

"I'm beat..."

"Let's hit the arcade!"

"Senpai? You still haven't changed out of your uniform?"

Saeko cracked an eye open at her kohai. "I'm staying a while longer."

Saeko was currently sitting in the seiza position on the hardwood floor of the dojo. The uniform in question was their club's kendo uniform, it consisted of a white gi (jacket) and a black hakama (divided trousers).

"Oh, okay. We'll be going then, senpai."

Saeko said her goodbyes and waited for Takashi to arrive.

 _Actually, Busujima-senpai, do you think you and I could have a match?_

She gripped her shinai in anticipation.

Throughout her kendo career, she's fought opponents with varying motivations: there were those who simply did kendo because their friends were doing it; there were those who recognized her skills and were either afraid, eager, motivated— or they gave up before the match even began; there were those who proclaimed her as their rival; there were those who cheated to get an upper hand against her; there were those who liked her, and those who hated her.

It didn't matter. None of them won. She remains undefeated in the women's individual, ranked number one in Japan. Put a sword in her hand— wooden, bamboo, or otherwise— and she was invincible.

However, with Takashi... she couldn't identify his motivations— what he fought for.

 _I'm very serious._

His eyes reminded Saeko of her father, the only one she ever lost to.

Getting restless, she got up and decided to do some kendo exercises. Saeko raised her shinai for an overhead strike—

"Senpai, I'm glad you're ready to go," said Takashi, who was coming out of the changing room, wearing their school's kendo uniform. "I hope it's okay for me to borrow these for today."

Saeko lowered her shinai. "It's no trouble at all, Komuro-kun. I didn't hear you come in though. Are you some kind of ninja?" she asked, genuinely surprised that she didn't hear him at all.

Takashi chuckled. "No, just years of—" Takashi momentarily paused at his slip, "well, habit." _That's actually not too off the mark. Since_ they _were sensitive to sound, we learned to move as quietly as possible._

Saeko didn't notice his slip. Her eyes were on the bokken he also borrowed from their club. "A wooden sword?"

"Yes. I don't want a normal kendo match, senpai. I was thinking more along the lines of a kenjutsu spar. No contact of course."

Saeko blinked at Takashi. "You sure are full of surprises, Komuro-kun. Alright, let me go get my bokken."

Takashi began to do some light stretching. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Saeko trying to contain her excitement as she walked past him, but he knew her too well.

 _Yes. That's right, Saeko. You've never been challenged to this kind of match before, have you? I know how badly you've wanted to fight like this._

Apart from wanting to see Saeko again, Takashi really did want to spar with her. It was a daily routine of theirs in the other universe. And they didn't spar using kendo techniques.

When Takashi had asked Saeko to teach him kendo, she had outright refused...

 **. . .**

[Two months after Z-day]

" _And I thought you'd be thrilled at the idea of me calling you 'sensei~'."_

 _Saeko's eyes were predatory. "Oh, you'll still be calling me sensei, Takashi. I may not be teaching you kendo, but I'll be teaching you jujutsu, kenjutsu, and iaijutsu— or as it's more commonly known in anime, and manga, as battojutsu."_

 _Takashi had stars in his eyes. "Ohh... so you'll be teaching me jujutsu, Saeko-sensei? I understand there'll be a lot of grappling involved."_

" _You've been spending too much time with Hirano-kun. Get your mind out of the gutter," Saeko chided, although it wasn't all that effective since she was blushing._

 _Takashi snorted. "Like you're one to talk, Saeko. You're even worse than me. Why, just yesterday, after you cut down a dozen of_ them, _you pulled me inside a van—"_

" _Anyway, modern kendo is far too simplified to be of any use in this new world: there are only three combat stances you can use, its movements are restricted, strikes are limited to three areas, and thrusts limited to one. Kendo's aim is spiritual and personal growth, not hurting or killing your opponents. This is why, despite kendo being a contact martial art, there's actually a very low injury rate among practitioners." Then, with a sinister smile, she added, "When I teach you kenjutsu, we will not have these limitations."_

 _Takashi nodded. "What about iaijutsu and battojutsu?"_

 _Saeko found his straight-face suspicious. "Battojutsu will teach you efficient sword-drawing techniques. Iaijutsu will teach you that, as well as how to immediately react to unexpected attacks. We will train this in full contact as well so you'll learn faster."_

 _Takashi nodded. "So, when do we start jujutsu?"_

 _She closed her eyes and sighed._

 _Takashi nodded. "You're right, we shouldn't. Every time we do it outside,_ they _always appear out of nowhere; just like those times when we were in the shrine, the island, the van yesterday... I wonder what noise attracted_ them _... certainly wasn't me—"_

 _At this point, Saeko knew she had only one way to shut him up. She pulled him into a mind-blowing kiss._

 **. . .**

Takashi smiled nostalgically at the memory.

His reminiscing was stopped when Saeko took her position in front of him.

"I'm ready, Komuro-kun. So, how do you wanna do this?" Saeko asked, her bokken in hand.

"Treat this like any normal sword fight, senpai. Except there'll be no contact, and we'll reset after each round. Let's go for best of three."

"Very well," she said with approval in her tone.

They bowed to each other and took their stances: Saeko assumed a traditional kendo stance, the tip of her wooden sword pointed at Takashi's eyes; while Takashi's stance... made Saeko raise her eyebrows at him.

"Komuro-kun, you do know that your stance right now resembles a baseball player?" she asked, trying not to sound exasperated. _Does he have no experience after all?... Did I get my hopes up for nothing?... But he did say he wanted a kenjutsu spar, so he must have experience..._

Takashi had a big smirk on his face. "Well, senpai, you see I wanted to test how you'd react to a situation where someone is running at you with a baseball bat," he said with too much innocence in his voice.

 _He's definitely mocking me... no... before a sword fight comes the clash of wills._ "Alright, Komuro-kun. I'm ready."

Takashi really wanted to chuckle badly at her serious expression, but held it in. Contrary to what Saeko thinks, he actually just found it fun to tease her. _Well, that, and I bet she won't see this one coming..._

Takashi charged at her, swinging his wooden sword like a baseball bat.

Saeko prepared to block it. However, mid-swing, Takashi swiftly changed it to an overhead strike and swung it down, aiming it at her wooden sword, the area a few inches above her hands. Her eyes dilated as she received the blow; it was strong, pushing her back a step. Had it not been for her training, her bokken would've been knocked out of her hands.

Their wooden swords locked.

Takashi was disappointed by that. _The angle was right like I predicted. I should've been able to knock it out of her hands with a charging attack. Oh well..._

Not giving her time to recover, he disengaged and slashed twice in quick succession: the first was a rising diagonal swing to the leg, followed by a downward cut to the shoulder.

Saeko, though still astonished from almost getting her bokken knocked out of her hands, was still able to block the strikes.

Continuing the momentum from his last swing, Takashi spun around and delivered a powerful horizontal slash that made Saeko jump back as their bokken met with a loud clack.

The end of the bokken's handle held in his left palm, Takashi pivoted the wooden sword in a vertical arc and caught it on his left forearm, the tip of the blade now pointing behind him. His lips curling upward, he said, "You're very strong, senpai. I thought I had you for sure with my first attack."

Saeko blinked at him, then recovering from her initial astonishment, a grin slowly formed on her face. "You really are full of surprises, aren't you, Komuro-kun."

"I try." Takashi got into a proper stance and pointed the tip of his wooden sword at Saeko's eyes. "Now, senpai. Let's see what you got."

Saeko's grin got even bigger. She lunged forward, batted Takashi's wooden sword out of the way, and executed two lightning quick overhead strikes.

Takashi blocked her first swing, sidestepped the next, and responded with his own overhead strike. He smiled a knowing smile at her widened eyes as their wooden swords locked once again. _You're not winning that easily, Saeko._

Her grin returned. Saeko stepped back and did a swift combination of three strikes. All of which were evaded and parried. _He's fast... faster than me... no... not faster... he reacts fast... really, really fast... in that case..._

She upped the speed of her attacks, going for the defenses Takashi left open. And yet, he still managed to block, parry, and evade her. Saeko's blood was screaming in her veins. She found an opponent that was on her level. And she was loving every second of their fight.

 _Yes, Komuro-kun! This is fun!_

Takashi let this go on for some time, getting a feel of his current physical abilities.

After a while, Saeko put more power into her swings, pushing Takashi back.

 _I'm glad you're having fun, Saeko. But warm-up's over. I'm gonna go win now._

Takashi waited for the opening he knew was coming, and positioned himself accordingly. He knew Saeko was confident in her speed and power, and in a couple of moves she was going to swing with more power than usual. And when the opening came, instead of parrying or evading, he slid past her attack, got in front of her and swung at her torso.

However, Saeko was too fast. Eyes wide, she dodged the attack— though just barely— and quickly countered with a horizontal swing to Takashi's neck.

Takashi spun around as he crouched low, Saeko's bokken clipping the top of his hair.

Saeko raised her wooden sword for one of her lightning quick overhead strikes. _Big mistake, Komuro-kun! First round is mi—_

Saeko stopped mid-swing. Takashi's wooden sword was held in a one-handed reverse grip, the tip of the blade a few inches away from her throat.

 _..._

 _I... lost?..._

Takashi, still crouching, his back turned to her, said, "Looks like first blood—" he stood up, then turned his head to smirk at Saeko over his shoulders, "—belongs to me, senpai," he finished as he lowered his bokken.

Saeko wordlessly turned around and walked back to their starting position. _I'm faster and stronger, yet Komuro-kun's still outmaneuvering me..._

 _I'm very serious..._

His words echoed in her mind again as she remembered his intense sharp eyes. _I don't know how he's doing it, but he's somehow predicting my every move... And his kenjutsu style, it's so similar to mine. That shouldn't be possible... The way he fights, is again, similar to how I fight. Again, shouldn't be possible... But his technique, it's more refined. His movements, absolutely none of it are wasted... And yet... I don't really care about any of that right now!_

Saeko turned around and raised her wooden sword; left palm open, pressing at the end of the handle. She pushed her open palm up to eye level which pivoted her bokken to point slightly downward, the blade's edge facing up. Her grin was half-sadistic, half-ecstatic, as she watched Takashi slowly walk back to his position.

Takashi smiled warmly at her. _Well good morning to you too, Saeko._

As Takashi walked, he thought about their first round.

 _Let's see... My strength is back to the level of swinging shotguns. My speed is back to the level of an average high school track athlete... Overall, pretty weak and slow compared to what I can normally do back in the other universe. That's why my first attack failed, and why I couldn't follow through even when I got inside her guard. No surprises there. Even though P.E. is my best subject, I've been slacking too much in this universe. I just can't match someone like Saeko who trains with a dull katana every day._

Still, Takashi wasn't worried at all. He had a major advantage: he's been sparring with her every day for 10 years now; he can read her every move. Her speed and strength won't be enough to compensate for the gap in their skill.

He took his position and assumed his earlier stance: the tip of his wooden sword pointed at Saeko's gleaming eyes.

Saeko let out a short battle cry and shot forward.

Takashi charged forward as well.

They both went for a horizontal swing to the head. Their wooden swords met halfway.

Clack!

Saeko then moved first. She swung for his legs, but Takashi was already jumping back as she began her swing. By the time she completed her attack, he was already on the move.

Takashi utilized a short burst of speed he hadn't used yet, quickly closing the short distance between them, and aimed a swift one-handed thrust to her forehead.

Saeko's eyes dilated as she parried the thrust at the last second, his wooden sword sliding past her head, half-an-inch away from touching her ears.

Takashi quickly pressed on with a flurry of strikes that kept poking at her defenses, constantly trying to create an opening, putting Saeko on the defensive. She had tried to use her speed to outmaneuver him, but Takashi was relentless and skillfully cut her off every time.

He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. _You're not getting away that easily, Saeko. If you don't want to keep getting pulled into my pace, you're gonna have to stop holding back!_

Saeko leaped back.

 _Orrr you can just do that,_ he internally deadpanned.

As soon as Saeko's feet touched the floor, she shot forward with a battle cry. Faster this time, she aimed a rapid charging thrust at Takashi's left chest, which he blocked by sliding his left palm near the tip of his bokken and expertly catching the thrust on the side of his blade with a loud crack.

Takashi's sharp eyes were staring into Saeko's almost manic eyes, and his big cheshire grin was matching her half-sadistic grin.

Saeko was shaking with excitement. _Oh, Komuro-kun! You definitely do not disappoint!_

She quickly spun around and did a rising diagonal slash. However, Takashi was already moving, using another short burst of speed to get inside her guard. She would have none of it. Saeko quickly stepped back and sent a barrage of lightning fast swings. But he just spun, slid, and feinted around them.

Saeko kept advancing, not giving Takashi time to counter-attack. But just like the first round, he somehow found a way to spin out of her swing, and countered with a strong rising diagonal slash which created some distance between them.

Takashi's breathing was a little heavy now, some sweat rolling down his face. _Guess my endurance is also back to level one._

Saeko however, hadn't even broken a sweat. "What's the matter, Komuro-kun? Tired already?" she asked with a bloodthirsty gaze as she took a step forward, looking every bit like a predator about to pounce on its wounded prey.

Takashi chuckled at that. "Of you, senpai? Nope. Never gonna happen."

Saeko stopped, blinked, then a light shade of pink dusted her cheeks.

Takashi wiped his forehead with his sleeves and closed his eyes. He inhaled, then exhaled. Inhaled. Exhaled. _Don't worry, Saeko. I can_ _push my_ _self to fight all_ _day_ _— even_ _until my hands start shaking_ _... But, you're still holding back. Let's see what you think of this!_

He then fumbled with the sash tied around his waist, slipped his bokken in it, and got into a stance. He opened his eyes and saw Saeko staring at him, stunned.

A chill ran down Saeko's spine. _T_ _he_ _re's just... no way_ _..._ _but..._ _there's_ _no doubt about it_ _now..._ _Busujima Itto-ryu._ _I_ _t's_ _a style_ _supposed to be_ _known_ _only_ _to my clan_ _..._ _How do you know this, Komuro-kun?... And that battojutsu stance..._ _I haven't even mastered that_ _yet_ _..._ _an assassination technique... something_ _only masters would attempt without a proper scabbard..._

 _O_ _nly..._

 _Masters..._

Saeko knew he was tired; knew that a battojutsu will not be as fast without a scabbard— even if performed by a master; knew she was capable of going even faster; knew she was capable of putting out even more power. She had the advantage.

This was nothing at all like that pathetic molester she encountered four years ago. This was her chance to fight a real opponent— a strong opponent— to have him bloody and beaten underneath her. Her blood felt like liquid fire. A sadistic grin spread across her face.

Saeko shot forward. _I want to hear you scream_ _, Komuro_ _-kun_ _!_

Takashi charged, a smile on his face. _Finally! Come at me, Saeko_ _!_

When he deemed it close enough, Takashi used two simultaneous short bursts of speed to close the gap. The muscles in his legs protested, but he didn't care, he wanted to show off a little more.

He swung his wooden sword in a horizontal arc— and abruptly stopped mid-swing.

Saeko had her bokken raised high. She was gaping at Takashi... frozen in absolute fear at the face reflected in those warm brown eyes.

"Sae— senpai?" Takashi asked with concern.

She silently lowered her wooden sword and averted her gaze.

"Senpai? What's wrong?" he asked gently, though he immediately knew what was going on with her the moment she froze.

She lowered her head. Her face hidden from him.

"Men..." he declared flatly as he lightly bopped the top of her head with the side of his bokken. **(1)**

If this was an official kendo competition, the audience would have sweatdropped at such an anticlimactic conclusion as the referee raised the flag in Takashi's victory.

Saeko, her face still hidden, slowly raised her left hand and rested it on the spot Takashi tapped.

Takashi's heart clenched. He hated seeing her like this.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Two out of three. Well, looks like I win our match. Come on, senpai. Let's get changed, then I'll meet you outside," he said as normally as he could.

Saeko nodded.

Takashi gathered his things and made his way to the boy's shower; he saw Saeko slowly head for the girl's. He sighed. When Saeko was like this, he knew it was best to give her some monotonous task to distract herself with.

 **.  
** **. .**

After some time, Takashi saw Saeko— now wearing her school uniform and carrying her things— slowly making her way towards him, eyes still downcast.

"Do you have anywhere you need to be right now, senpai?" he asked.

Saeko shook her head in a silent no.

"Great! Let's go."

The pair walked out of the school and headed to a nearby park. Saeko was silent during the entire walk.

The park looked serene. It was illuminated by the soft orange glow of the sun. Cherry blossom trees girdled the area and they were in full bloom. Pale pink petals floated along the pleasant breeze. At the moment, they were the only ones present.

Takashi took a seat on one of the swings, and she sat on the one next to him.

He took out two drinks from his school bag which he bought from a vending machine earlier while he was waiting for her. He handed her a warm canned tea that he knew she liked.

"Thank you," Saeko said listlessly. She opened it and took a drink. "This is... quite good," she said, surprised.

"Oh? You've never bought those before, senpai?"

"No, I've always preferred fresh tea."

Takashi was taken aback by that. He knew that in the other universe, Saeko preferred freshly brewed tea over canned ones. But since she always grabbed that particular brand, he just assumed she had always liked it.

 _Huh, I learned something new._

They took a sip of their drink. Then Takashi, his eyes intense, looking at the sunset, said, "Senpai, you're going to be alright. I promise."

Saeko turned her head towards Takashi and looked at him sadly.

 _Oh,_ _Komuro-kun... your kindness is wasted on someone like me... I know you saw the look on my face._ _I saw it reflected in your eyes_ _... If only you knew... the things I wanted to do to you earlier..._ _what I did_ _four_ _years_ _—_

Facing her, he continued, "After all, even though you're forbidden from asking me out, that doesn't mean I can't. So don't be too hard on yourself."

Saeko blinked at Takashi. "Nn-."

"'Nn-'? 'Nn-' what? You're not making any sense at all, sen—"

Saeko covered her mouth with her free hand and broke into peals of laughter.

Takashi smiled softly at her.

After Saeko settled down, she held the warm can of tea in both hands, her thumbs fiddling with it. "Thank you for that, Komuro-kun."

Takashi looked at her guiltily. "No, senpai. I knew you were holding back, but I pushed too far, and I made you show me something that you weren't prepared for anyone to see. I'm sorry."

"You saw it then," Saeko said in a resigned tone.

"I did."

"And yet... here you are. Why?"

Takashi paused. After a few seconds, he gazed at the sunset, looking wistful. "I miss my sensei... you know, you're just like her. Strong. Fast. Fierce. Deadly." then looking at her he added, "And beautiful, even in combat— an angel of death."

Saeko gasped, then blushed heavily.

Takashi smirked at her reaction. He looked back at the sunset and continued. "In our first ever kenjutsu lesson, she went all out on me, full contact with no protective gear. And in two weeks, I learned to dodge like a pro. No offense, senpai, but she's a lot scarier than you."

Regaining her composure somewhat, she said, "I-I guess... that explains the speed of your reaction to my attacks. You're very skilled."

"Thanks, senpai. I had a good teacher," he said with a grin, amused at the irony that only he could see.

Saeko then had a thought and became pensive. "Komuro-kun? Who taught you that style of kenjutsu?"

 _Well, looks like I'm busted._ _That's what I get for showing off._ _B_ _ut I guess it was gonna happen at some point anyway._ "Ah, you're wondering who taught me the Busujima Itto-ryu?"

Her eyes widened at the admission. "Yes."

Takashi rubbed the back of his head. "Can you... give me a week before I tell you?" he asked apprehensively.

Saeko was momentarily confused, but she agreed to his request. "That sounds reasonable. I won't pry." After a few seconds, she added, "I'd very much like to meet her though— if that's alright."

"Thank you." He paused, considering his next words. Then wistfully, he said, "As for meeting her, it's impossible. She isn't around anymore."

"I'm... sorry for your loss."

Takashi shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that, senpai," he reassured her, "she's still alive. She just... moved really far away." _More like I moved a universe away..._

"Oh, of course." Saeko then decided to change the topic to get him out of his gloom; like he had done for her earlier. "You said your teacher and I are alike—" she blurted out, then blushed when she recalled the last part of the compliment he gave her earlier.

Takashi's lips slowly stretched into a knowing smirk as he stared at her flushing cheeks. "Mmm hmmm~?"

It worked, but not the way she intended. "A-Anyway, do you mind telling me if she had any problems with... wanting to fight too much?"

He gazed at her with his sharp eyes. Saeko found it... comforting. That came as a surprise to her, since she initially found those sharp eyes of his to be unnerving just a few hours ago. _I wonder when I started thinking that..._

"Yes, she did actually. Because of that... problem," said Takashi knowingly, breaking Saeko out of her thoughts, "she spent years thinking of herself as a monster who doesn't deserve to be loved. But eventually, she was able to truly accept and love that part of her self which she never ever thought she could love. Since then, she was able to control it, and she became an even stronger fighter than she was before."

 _Does he know?_ Saeko thought as she averted her gaze from him, her bangs hiding her eyes. Then, softly, almost in a whisper, she said, "I see... thank you... Komuro-kun—"

She turned to face him, beaming a warm smile that made Takashi's heart melt.

 _So... beautiful..._

"—for sharing that with me," she finished. _Maybe... there's still hope for me..._

Takashi smiled in return. _I promised_ _that_ _you would be alright,_ _Saeko._ _A_ _nd you will be._ _I'll be there to help you through this_ _._ "You're very welcome, Busujima-senpai."

Saeko held up her hand.

Takashi raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I wanna be called Saeko by my friends."

Takashi blinked at her; a thong and an apron replaced Saeko's current school uniform. _Wow, deja vu..._

He quickly— but sadly— banished the thought. "Sure thing, Saeko-san," he said happily.

They both looked straight ahead, watching the last few minutes of the sunset, and sipping at their drinks in comfortable silence.

Takashi couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself for earning her friendship so quickly. Because in the other universe, Saeko didn't have any friends before the apocalypse...

 **. . .**

[One month and three weeks after Z-day]

" _Saeko! What're you doing out here?!" Takashi said louder than normal._

" _I know we've cleared this area of_ them, _and that we have traps set up, but please be quieter, Takashi."_

" _What?! I can't hear a thing you're saying! Can you speak up?!"_

 _Saeko laughed demurely, already having an idea of what happened from all the commotion she heard inside. She walked up to him and leaned close to his ear. "Try to be quieter. You're talking louder than you think."_

" _Oh, sorry about that," he said softly, though it was still louder than normal. "On my left, Saya-san kept nagging me about my stupidity and not caring enough to take her with me when all this shit started. On my right, Rei somehow got Shizuka-sensei to share her spiked drink, then she got drunk and started yelling about how I always pay attention to you, and that Hisashi would've paid attention to her instead."_

" _Yes, I could it hear it from out here," she said with a soft giggle, the sound tickling Takashi's ears and making his spine tingle._

" _You could've stayed and suffered with me you know," Takashi said lightly, looking at her from the corner of his eyes._

" _If I did that, we'd both be yelling right now."_

 _They shared a laugh._

 _After his eardrums have recovered, they sat on the wooden steps. Takashi wrapped an arm around her. Saeko rested her head on his shoulder, and slid an arm around his chest._

" _So, why'd you excuse yourself when Shizuka-sensei started telling us stories about her old friends in high school?" Takashi asked._

" _It just reminded me of some unpleasant things," she said in a distant tone._

 _Playfully, he said, "Not all unpleasant I hope?"_

 _Saeko's lips stretched into a small smile. "Of course not. Even with the world as it is, I'm quite happy right now. I found someone to love and friends I can count on." Her tone became somber. "But before I met up with all of you... I didn't have friends, just acquaintances. So when the dead started attacking the living, I had no problems with fighting_ them, _or abandoning those who I didn't think had the capacity to survive_. _"_

 _Takashi was taken aback. "But... no way... I thought someone like you would've had many friends and—"_

 _At her raised eyebrow, he realized he was repeating the same thing he said to her back in the shrine when she was talking about the guy she liked._

" _Oh, right. Sorry—"_

 _Saeko covered her mouth, giggling at him. "It's cool, Takashi. You really see me as a girl worthy of admiration no matter what I do... it makes me feel normal. It's one of the things I love so much about you."_

 _Takashi's face heated up._

 _Taking a less somber tone, she said, "After the incident four years ago, a few of my friends from middle school somehow heard about it, even though it wasn't made public information. They thought I was some kind of superhero. I distanced myself from them— avoided spending time with them after school— because I didn't want them to see who I really was on the inside. Eventually, we grew apart."_

 _He held her closer._

 _Saeko smiled in thanks at the silent show of support. "My father noticed this, so when I passed my entrance exams for Fujimi Academy a year later, he jumped at the opportunity to give me a fresh start, and we moved to Tokonosu... It didn't help like he hoped it would. I learned quickly that nearly everyone in school liked my veneer of politeness. I kept them close enough to not be considered rude, and distanced myself when they were getting too close."_

 _She made herself more comfortable on his shoulder. "As time passed, I even grew distant from my father. I stopped training with him when I hurt him during one of our spars. He confronted me of course— asked me what I was hiding from him— but I was too ashamed to tell him." She sighed deeply. "After that, he would often take invitations from dojos and conferences overseas which he always refused to accept before."_

 _After a brief moment of silence, Takashi kissed the top of her head. "I bet he's okay, Saeko. He defeated you after all. And you're pretty much invincible. Compared to my parents he's—"_

 _Saeko looked up and saw him trying to keep the worry from showing in his face. She wrapped her other arm around his chest, hugging him. "Thank you, Takashi. I'm sure your parents are doing fine too."_

 **.  
** **. .**

After the sun had set, they gathered their things and walked out of the park.

"Say, Komuro-kun?" Saeko began as they walked, "Are you part of any clubs right now?"

"Is that an invitation to join the kendo club?"

"Yes. If you join, I'm confident our men's team can reach top 4 in Japan. Individually, I think you can easily win the nationals this year undefeated."

Takashi smiled at the praise. "I'm flattered, Saeko-san." He pretended to think about it, then he said, "But, I kinda like my current club. Any incentives to quit that and join the kendo club?"

Saeko blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Um... well, from personal experience, you'll get a lot of scholarship offers from prestigious universities when you win tournaments and get a high national ranking. And..."

"Aaand~?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"And... it would be nice to have a highly skilled sparring partner."

He laughed at that. _There it is_ _... that's what it's really about..._

Saeko looked at him with shining eyes. "Please?"

Takashi made the mistake of glancing at those shimmering blue orbs and abruptly choked on his laughter. He grabbed his knees and coughed repeatedly.

She walked over to him and rubbed his back. "Komuro-kun? Are you okay?" she asked with genuine concern.

His coughing fit managed, he stood up straighter and nodded. "Man, that was pretty potent. I was gonna accept, you know. No need to resort to those things."

They resumed walking.

Saeko smiled and said, "I'm glad to hear it." She then tilted her head slightly to the side. "But what was 'pretty potent'? And what do you mean by 'those things'?"

Takashi sweatdropped. _Of course... she doesn't even realize it..._ _so_ _clueless._ _No, wait... a_ _ctually... this is good..._ _yeah..._ _t_ _he longer she stays clueless about this, the better._

He waved his hands in front of him dismissively. "Oh, it's nothing. Forget it." When it looked like she was still going to ask, thinking quickly, he said, "School's out early tomorrow. You doing anything after club practice, Saeko-san?"

"I help out in our kendo equipment store during the weekends—" her lips stretched into a sly smile. "Ah, were you hoping to ask me out, Komuro-kun? I'm afraid I'll be busy tomorrow."

Takashi already knew that of course and smirked at her. "That's perfect!" he said happily. "You can help me get some kendo equipment shopping done."

Saeko's cheeks turned pink.

After a few seconds, they both snorted in unison, then laughed (Saeko, demurely).

"You got me again," she admitted with a small chuckle. "Very well, I can help with that." Something occurred to her then. "Oh, what about your club? Is it alright for you to leave so suddenly?"

"Ohh~, you mean my going-home-early club?" he asked innocently. "Yeah, sure. It's no trouble at all."

"You... were teasing me," Saeko deadpanned.

Takashi responded by looking at her with a big cheshire grin.

They walked like this for some time: talking and joking with each other... until they reached a yellow Subaru R1, parked on the side of the road and cranking its engine with no success.

Takashi had a feeling he knew who that car belonged to, even though he's only heard of it.

They went over to offer some help, and found a buxom blonde woman in her late 20's. It was their school nurse, Marikawa Shizuka, sitting in the driver seat.

Takashi tapped the window to get her attention.

Shizuka got out of the car and greeted the two of them. "Ah~, Komuro-kun! Busujima-san! Are you two going out on a date?"

Saeko put her hands in front of her defensively. "No, it's nothing like that Dr. Marikawa. We're just walking together to the bus stop."

"That's right," said Takashi, nodding in agreement. "You see, Saeko-san is prohibited from asking me out."

Saeko turned to Takashi and sputtered.

"More importantly, sensei," he continued, "what's your car trouble?"

A light bulb lit up above Shizuka's head. "Oh! That's right! I was driving, and then my car won't start."

"Did you run out of fuel?" he asked.

"No, it's still full."

Takashi sighed. "A car's engine doesn't just suddenly stop while you're driving, Shizuka-sensei."

"Yes, of course! I remember now! I stopped on the side of the road so I can read the text from my girlfriend, because she told me—"

She then scrunched up her eyebrows, put a hand on her hip, and stomped her feet together in an attempt to look stern, but all she managed to do was look cute.

"—'Don't text and drive ever again, Shizuka! You almost drove us off a cliff! All these dangerous assignments to take out god damned terrorists and I'm gonna die from a heart attack!'" she scolded, repeatedly poking her finger at the forehead of an imaginary Shizuka kneeling in the seiza position, blocks of cement piled on top of her knees, crying pitifully with rivers of tears pouring down her face.

Saeko sweatdropped while Takashi chuckled softly to himself, already used to her antics.

Shizuka then put her arms under her chest, which had the effect of pushing her breasts up. "After that, I tried to drive off, but the car wouldn't move."

"Alright, sensei," he said, "pop the hood and let me take a look. It's probably your car's battery. Let me borrow your toolbox too."

Shizuka complied, and Takashi lifted the hood.

Saeko stood behind Takashi, content to watch him work. "You have experience with repairing cars, Komuro-kun?"

"A little. I'm not like my dad— he's a mechanic for a race team's pit crew— but I'm sure I can get this thing going." After securing the hood, he told Shizuka to turn on the ignition, looking and listening for any problems. He told her to stop, and began tinkering with the engine using the tools he borrowed.

After he was done, Takashi closed the hood. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands. "Saeko-san, can I borrow your bokken?"

Saeko raised her eyebrows in confusion as she handed it to him.

"Start the engine, sensei."

The engine cranked, but didn't start. During the 2nd attempt, Takashi hit the grill of the car with Saeko's wooden sword... and the engine started.

Saeko blinked. "That actually worked?"

"Komuro Shinmei-ryu. Also works with appliances," he said proudly as he handed back the bokken to a demurely giggling Saeko. He walked over to the driver's side of the car— and got pulled in through the window by an overly affectionate buxom nurse.

"Oh, Komuro-kun~! Thank you so much! I thought I was going to be stranded here forever!" Shizuka exclaimed, hugging Takashi.

Takashi looked awkward: his upper torso was inside the car, while the rest of him was standing outside the car. He took it in stride, putting the toolbox on the passenger seat and patting her on the head. He knew she acted like this when she was frightened and alone. "No need to be scared, sensei. I'm sure you could've called for help."

"No, my cellphone's battery just died because I left it powered on in the car this morning."

Takashi disentangled himself from her and sighed. _S_ _till ditzy as ever..._ _how you survived every day on your own before meeting us, is truly a mystery..._

Saeko walked up to them. "Are you sure you can get home safely by yourself Dr. Marikawa?" she asked, seriously concerned for their school nurse's life.

Shizuka clenched her fists in front of her chest and puffed up her cheeks. "Nooo~! I don't want to go home yet! I have to get some shopping done!"

Takashi facepalmed.

"Grocery shopping?" Saeko asked.

"No, silly. Clothes," said Shizuka, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But your car—" Saeko began.

"MOUU~! Sensei doesn't care!" she said childishly, her ears honking out short puffs of steam.

Saeko finished in 2nd place. She was 14 seconds behind Takashi from smacking her palm to her face. And thus, he recovered first.

"Leave this to me, Saeko-san." Takashi leaned forward and pinched both of Shizuka's puffed up cheeks. "Sensei, You're not going shopping. You're going to drive straight to an auto repair shop. Am I clear?" he said in an imposing tone.

"Bwut, I wahs shwaving thaht mwoney fhor a fwhashion shale!"

"I said no, Shizuka-sensei. You are going to the auto repair shop. Right now. Or my fingers will stay clamped on your cheeks... forever."

Her watery eyes widened in mortal terror. "F-Fworever?!"

"Forever," he repeated ominously.

"I-I pwomise two goh two the repwair shoph rwight nowh!"

"Swear on all your designer clothes."

"A-All ofh thwem?!" When Takashi narrowed his eyes, she said, "I... I-I shwear!"

"Good." He stopped tweaking her cheeks and nodded. "Now drive safe. Alright, sensei?" Takashi said as he gave her a pat on the head.

"Yes, sir!" Shizuka saluted cutely, her cheeks bright red.

Takashi stepped back and she drove off.

"Did that—" said Saeko, a look of disbelief on her face. She sighed. "Is she really gonna be alright?" she asked, still worried.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I made her swear on all of her designer clothes. She'll go straight for the nearest repair shop."

Saeko paused to think about it. She shook her head in defeat. "Very well, I'll trust your judgement. You seem to know her well." After a few seconds, she said, "A little too well... a forbidden relationship between student and school nurse perhaps?"

Takashi stared at her. "Oh, I see... you're trying to get back at me for teasing you earlier about the club." Takashi held up a finger. "Or was it that comment I made to sensei about you being prohibited from asking me out?" A knowing grin spread across his face. "Or was it both? That's cute, Saeko-san. You'll have to try harder than that though," he finished, looking at her smugly.

She blinked at him, then grinned as well; a competitive glint in her eye.

Their walk to the bus stop was not as silent as when they first walked to the park.

 **.  
** **. .**

In the bus, the scenery passed by in a blur as Takashi told Saeko about his friends; that they were able to make up. She told him about their club practice, and that they got four new members today; bringing them to a total of 24, which will become 25 when he joins them officially.

As they talked, Takashi failed to realize something...

"Well, this is my stop," said Saeko.

Then, it hit him... Saeko was going back home— to _her_ home— not to _their_ home. She was going alone. He was not going with her. He made a desperate grab for her hand— and stopped himself. He closed his eyes and calmed himself.

Saeko gathered her things and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Komuro-kun," she said pleasantly.

Takashi recovered quickly before she could glimpse the pain that briefly flashed on his face. "See you tomorrow, Saeko-san. Take care," he said with a small smile.

He watched her walk away.

Saeko's lips gently curved upward as she gave him one last glance before exiting the bus.

Takashi opened his phone. Everything seemed normal, but he still had to check.

 _Please be normal please be normal..._

Refreshing the various social media tabs that were still open in his phone, he found...

 _T_ _he same stupid shit..._ _Good. I can stop worrying..._

 **.  
** **. .**

Takashi was currently pacing back and forth along the river.

 _God damn it! I can't stop worrying!_

Arf!

 _Puppy?... that bark..._

Arf! Arf!

Takashi turned around, and sure enough, a white puppy with black ears jumped into his chest. Catching the white ball of energy in his arms, he said, "Zero? What're you doing here? And you're so tiny— well, tinier than usual."

Zero barked and licked Takashi's chin, his tail wagging happily from side to side.

A young woman wearing a frilly dress with a matching hat ran up to him. Catching her breath, she said, "Ah... thank you... for catching him..."

"You must be the owner then?"

After the girl regained her breathing, she shook her head and said, "No, my family runs a vet clinic. We've actually been trying to get this little guy adopted, but he keeps running away from his owners... come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen him so relaxed."

Arf! Zero tilted his head up and licked Takashi's chin.

"He seems to like you too," she continued, "would you be willing to adopt him?"

Takashi blinked. Next thing he knew, the girl was waving at him from the distance and then walking away. And just like that, he was now the proud owner of Zero.

He looked down to Zero, and said, "Well, at least you've got all your initial fees covered. I didn't have to pay for a single thing."

Arf!

"You don't remember me too, do you?" Takashi said wistfully.

Zero tilted his head to the side.

Takashi petted Zero's head then set him down. "Come on, let's go home. I hope mom let's me... keep... you..."

His eyes widened in realization.

 _MOM!_

 **.  
** **. .**

Takashi was breathing heavily as he absent-mindedly took off his shoes. The lights were on, and noise from the T.V. could be heard from the living room.

Shakily he said, "I'm... home..."

Sensing Takashi's current state, Zero barked and rubbed his head on Takashi's ankles.

"Takashi? Did I just hear a puppy?" his mother said as she came out. Komuro Kanae was a tall young looking woman. She had light brown hair which appeared longer in the right side than her left, it was tied into a single ponytail which rested in front of her right shoulder; a strand of hair hung down between her gentle brown eyes, and there was a beauty mark beneath her lips. She was wearing a light blue long sleeve blouse and a white skirt.

Memories flashed in front of his eyes.

 _...Mom! You're okay!..._

"Welcome home. Oh, what a cute puppy!" his mom said happily.

 _...I'm sorry, Takashi. These kids have no one else. I have to go with them to the evacuation..._

He gasped, his eyes filling with tears. "Mom..." said Takashi, his voice thick with emotion.

 _...It's alright. I understand. These guys need me too. I'm kind of their leader now..._

"Takashi? What's the matter?" said Kanae in concern when she saw the look on her son's face.

 _...Goodbye, son. I love you so much. I want you to know that I'm so proud of you..._

His eyesight became blurry and the noise around him flatlined as he went to her, stumbling on his own feet as he tried to run. When Takashi reached his mom, he threw his arms around her, almost tackling her into a hug.

 _...Come on, mom. None of this sappy stuff. I'll come find you after all this, you'll see..._

"Takashi? What happened?" she said anxiously as she returned her son's embrace.

 _...Far as I can tell, the settlement has been completely overrun. Good news is, I didn't find any dead children. No sign of your mom too. They must've made it out! So cheer up, Komuro!..._

He held her tighter, tears falling down his cheeks, staining her blouse. _We never found you after that day, mom_ _. And I didn't even get to say_ _how much_ _I love you before we left._ _Saying some lame bullshit about_ _being sappy_ _..._ _I was so stupid_ _and naive_ _._

"Is this about Rei, Takashi?" said Kanae.

"I love you, mom... so much."

"I... love you too, son. It's alright. I'm right here," she said with as much emotion. Then pulling back from their embrace, she said, "Now, tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing," said Takashi, wiping his tears, "I thought something happened to you, but you're alright."

"Nothing, hmm? Are you sure, Takashi? You wouldn't just hug me like that and cry over nothing."

"Really, mom. It's nothing." He then pulled her in for another hug. "I'm just glad you're safe and sound."

When Takashi pulled back, his mother had a warm smile on her face. But then, she suddenly looked worried and gasped.

Seeing this, Takashi instantly became alert. "What is it, mom?"

"Son? What happened to you?"

"What happened to me? What do you—"

She grabbed her son's face with both of her hands, turning it left and right, scrutinizing it closely.

After a few dozen times of this, Takashi said, "Uhh... mom? What're you doing?"

"You look older all of a sudden," Kanae said in wonder. She then squished Takashi's face together, his mouth forming an 'O', resembling a fish's lips. "Ahh~, now there's my baby!"

Arf!

She stopped fussing over Takashi. "Oh, that's right," said Kanae, crouching down and turning her attention to the cute puppy. "I didn't forget about you," she cooed at Zero, as she rubbed his belly.

 _Good boy, Zero! I owe you one,_ thought Takashi.

Noticing the red collar, she asked, "So, who does he belong to, Takashi?"

"He's ours now. I just adopted him. I hope that's alright."

"Of course it is!" his mother exclaimed. "It gets pretty lonely here sometimes when your dad is on tour."

Takashi nodded. "Okay then. I'll let you and Zero get acquainted while I go get changed."

"Zero? What do you mean? Like 'nothing'?"

"No, mom. Zero like the zero fighter planes in World War II," he said as he walked away.

Kanae picked up Zero and brought him to eye level. "That's boring. I thought kids these days were more into anime?"

Arf!

 **.  
** **. .**

Later that evening, Takashi plopped down on his bed, reflecting on the days events.

 _This morning, I woke up with Saeko in my arms. We did our usual patrols. Cleared an area of_ them. _I went across the city and got Saeko a new vanity box. Meteor crashed. Fought with a multiverse enforcer. Got my soul cloned. Woke up in another universe without_ them _in it... so far..._

 _A future without_ them _in it..._ his words from earlier in the school gates rang in his head. Takashi rested the back of his hand on his forehead, partially covering his eyes.

Their faces flashed in his mind.

 _Kohta. Alice. Zero. Rei. Shizuka. Saya..._

 _Saeko..._

 _A future without 'them' in it... indeed..._

Other than Saeko, his entire focus was on the impending disaster that apparently never came. And only now did it occur to him that his family— everyone he laughed and cried with— everyone he fought and bled with— they were in another universe with the other him.

Takashi's fists clenched.

 _It's out of my hands now... The other me should still be with them— hopefully..._

His fists unclenched.

 _Still... they're here... they're alive... and they have a brighter future in this world. No more of our loved ones getting taken away from us. No more struggling every single day just to survive. No more insane lunatics hunting us down. No more dealing with_ th— _zombies. Yeah, that's right! You motherfuckers don't exist in this world!_

 _But if you do exist, I'll be more than ready this time..._

 **. . .**

Saeko switched off the lights in her room and laid down on her futon.

"Komuro Takashi... Komuro-kun... Takashi-ku—"

She gasped and covered her mouth... then giggled.

 _Komuro-kun... We've been friends for hardly a day... and already, I can't get you out of my mind... My first real friend since that day four years ago..._

Ever since Saeko stepped out of the bus, she's had a small smile stuck on her face. She thought about their first meeting, their match, their talks after. She kept thinking about it over and over again until she was now lying on her futon.

And then she realized something new about him: though his eyes were sharp, they had always been warm when he gazed at her— even when she saw her twisted visage reflected in them. This was why she didn't find his sharp eyes so unnerving anymore. Because to him, she was...

 _Strong... fast... fierce... deadly... and beautiful, even in combat— an angel of death._

Saeko felt her face heat up, giggling demurely as his words echoed in her ears. _An 'angel of death', hmm?... I think I like the sound of that, Komuro-kun..._

She then thought about his teacher. _He said_ _I was just like her_ _... I wonder._ _D_ _id Komuro-kun have a crush on her?_ _Does he... see me... like that?_

Saeko shook her head. _In any case, I said I'd wait for a week. As a woman of the Busujima family, I will keep my word and wait for him to reveal who his teacher is... and it's definitely not about... whether he... likes me..._

She turned on her side, whipping the blankets over her with a snap. _I can't wait to spar with you again, Komuro-kun. For giving me this much trouble, I'_ _m going all out_ _against you tomorrow!_

It was a shame that Saeko wasn't staring into a mirror. Because had she been doing so, she would've seen that, for once, her face wasn't twisted into that sadistic look she loathed so much.

* * *

Author's Notes:

 **(1)** Kendo practitioners normally shout out their attacks during a match: 'men' for head strikes, 'do' for body strikes, 'kote' for wrist strikes, and 'tsuki' for throat thrusts. Although, from the competitions I've seen in youtube (World Kendo Championship Finals), they don't always do this. I suppose it's more of an individual preference than a requirement.

Some additional terms, just in case anyone was wondering what they were:

Seiza – Proper sitting. Kneeling with the legs folded underneath the thighs, buttocks resting on the heels of the feet.

Itto-ryu – One-sword School

Shinmei-ryu – God's Cry School


End file.
